New mum reveals wait for answers

SHE HOPES OTHER FAMILIES GET MORE HELP

- KATIE OBORN 

 

A FIRST-TIME Plymouth mum says she became confused and desperate after her new-born baby continued to lose weight after struggling to feed properly – despite latching on to her breast.

Kimberley Noakes claims her son’s condition went undiagnosed by NHS midwives for months, affecting her baby’s feeding and her own mental health.

Being a new mum, Kimberley says she was not aware of the condition at first. Her baby, Alfie, who weighed a healthy 8lbs at birth, started to lose weight after she struggled to feed him by breast or bottle. Despite the concerns of Kimberley and the midwives, the relatively common condition went undiagnosed. It was not until several months passed that his tongue-tie – where the strip of skin connecting the baby’s tongue to the bottom of the mouth is shorter than usual – was spotted and treated.