When I read this story I was amazed and had to share it with you.

There can be many reasons why breastfeeding does not work for some mums and babies, but tongue-tie is not one I have heard of before.

Tongue-tie is when a baby is born with a very short lingual frenulum, which is the piece of skin that joins the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. Apparently it is quite common and the advice from midwives and other professionals is that it will usually correct itself before their 1st year.

However, after reading this article it would seem that this condition, which is very quickly and easily corrected most of the time, can hinder breastfeeding and ultimately cause the nursing mum to give up.

Prevailing medical opinion says, as my midwife did, that tongue-tie will usually right itself by the end of the baby's first year as the tongue grows. If the baby still has a problem after that, a paediatric surgeon might consider a frenulotomy - a procedure that divides the frenulum from the base of the mouth. Others will not perform surgery unless the child develops speech problems and has not responded to speech therapy. By that time, the child will require a general anaesthetic for the procedure.

However, some doctors believe in a more proactive attitude, including Shailesh Patel, consultant paediatric surgeon at King's College Hospital in south London. "My view is that these cases are emergencies," he says. "If someone is referred to me, I try to fit them into my clinic that week. I believe that if a mother has to wait even another week, she will give up breastfeeding because it is too awful to carry on."

Given that Britain has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in Europe - only 21 per cent of babies are breastfed until six months, the age recommended by the World Health Organisation - you can see why he's so determined.

Read this story it is very interesting.