Untangling Tongue-tie
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Untangling Tongue-tie: Cutting Through the Medicalisation of Breastfeeding in the UK - an ethnographic study of the maternal experience of infant feeding and tongue-tie in contemporary UK.
IRAS ID
263444
Contact name
Maria Larrain
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCLH Joint Reserach office
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2020/01/92 , Data Protection Research Registration no; 132676, EDGE no.
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 11 days
Research summary
This a study that explores the diagnosis of ‘tongue-tie’ through a medical anthropological lens with the focus on the maternal experience in the context of contemporary parenting culture.The condition has become a very popular topic with new parents as one of the main reasons cited why mothers experience breastfeeding difficulties. There is also the concern that tongue-tie can lead to future speech problems in children. This study sets out to investigate the social and cultural context wherein mothers (parents) make infant feeding choices and consent for frenotomy on their babies. The issue of ‘tongue-tie’ is a divisive and contested issue amongst healthcare professionals because it is a functional and subjective diagnosis, but evidence shows it can ameliorate maternal breast pain in the short term.
The central aim of this research is to understand how women experience tongue-tie and frenotomy, and to understand the social, cultural and bioethical context in which they attempt to establish breastfeeding. As such, it explores the ways in which this context may be contributing to increased rates of tongue-tie diagnosis and frenotomy procedures, paying close attention to the roles of healthcare professionals in this process.
The study will consist of observations of clinical encounters of mothers (parents) with infant feeding specialists and tongue-tie dividers. Participants will be recruited for in-depth semi-structured interviews from an NHS clinic and a private breastfeeding drop-in as well as the infant feeding team members who service them and their infants. To contextualised women’s experiences in relation to the information they receive from Facebook, the study will include thematic analysis of selected forums.
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0022
Date of REC Opinion
4 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion