Mary, a couple of things come to mind:

1.)  I think tongue tie is LESS of a problem for mothers who breastfeed well 
and who know how to make it work, regardless.  Case in point:  Myself.  My 
third child was very tongue tied at birth (not among the worst cases I've 
seen, but not among the mildest either) and my nipples were a 'tad' sore in 
the beginning.  I was (and still am) a LLLL at the time with two very 
successful experiences under my belt.  My nipples had never been sore before, 
so I knew something was a bit off.  But the soreness didn't bug me and I knew 
how to position and latch the baby in order to minimize it.

After the 'tie' was officially diagnosed by my midwife, I called Dr. Jack Newman 
(I lived in Toronto at the time, so it was local call!) and he and I discussed it 
and decided that because I already was less sore then in the first few days 
and because the babe was gaining really well (hello!  This was my 20 pounder 
at 10 weeks of age), a snip was not warranted.

So, I left it alone, and we managed just fine.  My baby also happened to be a 
super speedy nurser and only nursed for 5 minutes at time on one side, right 
from birth (so much for reading good books while nursing!).  This may have 
factored in our success also, given that he spend 1/5th of the time a 'regular' 
newborn spends at the breast.  His tongue has since stretched quite a bit, he 
has never had speech issues, and you would not know that he ever had a 
problem.  Though he can't stick out his tongue as far as others, he can still 
stick it out and lick an ice cream cone.

2.)  Obviously we know that short frenulums run in families.  It's somewhat 
genetic.  I'm wondering if you live in a an area (okay ladies, I know this is a 
long shot!) where people are more closely related by genetics than in other 
areas?  A small town...or a place where people tend not to move away from?  

In other words, could there simply be more short frenulums in your area 
because of ancestral genetics?  I think it's possible.

So...all this to say that I think it is entirely possible that you are seeing so 
many more tongue ties than the average Lactation Professional would see, 
and...if you are working with mothers who ALSO need help positioning and 
latching properly, then it seems to go hand in hand that you could reasonably 
see more of the same kind of difficulty.

No?

Okay, ladies...if I'm off my rocker, blast away!

Blessings.

Karyn-grace Clarke, IBCLC, LLLL
Gulf Islands, BC, Canada
www.breastfeedingwithkg.com

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