BUPA for tongue tie snips

[Bluedark]

Hi all

I have a referral from a lactation consultant to the paediatric surgeon for diagnosis and correction of my daughter's tongue tie. We would like to get it done privately as she is already 10 weeks old, we have breastfeeding difficulties and terrible reflux and want to get it sorted quickly. We have BUPA family cover. Has anyone had the Frenulotomy done privately by Mr Patel and recovered the costs through BUPA? Is the referral letter I have enough or do I need a referral from the GP? If so are GPs generally ok to provide the referral as I understand it is not seen as a necessary medical condition (unless baby is not thriving)?

Any insights would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot

[Fuschia]

Dr Patel has a secretary who has all the info, I think

[midivydale]

Hi Bluedark,

Sometimes you dont have to have the referal letter (BUPA never ask for it and very few practices demand it in my experience). I spoke to BUPA about this when we were going to have it done in 2012 and was told it would be covered. For various reasons, we never went through with it in the end as the decision was taken to stop bf (a v long story).

In my experience with both BUPA and referals - just tell them what you need rather than ask. Ie "I am phoning for an authorisation number for x procedure" or "Please could you provide me with a generic refereal letter for my medical insurance".

Please PM me for more info or if you want a chat in general on how to get through the system.

Hang in there, you are a great mum doing your best for your baby. Breast feeding issues and reflux issues are both heart breaking - combined they are enough to send anyone over the edge. There are many of us on here who have been exactly where you are and we feel for you so much.

PM me if you want my number and we can have a chat

[Bluedark]

Midivydale - THANK YOU! I have sent you a PM

[alieh]

Not BUPA but we had no problem doing this through AXA PPP.

[juliemidwife]

Hi

there's a lovely midwife called Rene who works for Neighbourhood Midwives who does the procedure. I don't think you need any referral at all and it's very reasonably priced. Google them and give them a call - I've heard lots of positive reports.

all the best

[Fuschia]

Ooh Rene was my midwife, though she didn't do the snip in those days so I saw mr Patel.

What I found a bit hard at kings was that mr Patel was very certain that the baby needs to feed immediately after the procedure. But I was on my own and I couldn't get him to latch, so I was really fearful it would just heal back up immediately

Having it done with a midwife on hand to help with latching on would be a big help

[amydown]

Hi

We had a referral and had it done at the private wing of King's. BUPA paid for this.

[purplecat]

My daughter had the tongue tie cut at 8 weeks old at the regular clinic at Kings. It was done within a week of her being referred by specialist midwife at breastfeeding cafe. I'm not sure if speed of getting it done was the reason for using BUPA so just wanted to let you know it seems to get done quite quickly anyway. My daughter's tongue tie got identified by first midwife on a Tuesday at a breastfeeding cafe, I got the official referral from specialist midwife on the Thursday at the Peckham library bf cafe and it got cut on the next Tuesday. My GP actually did a referral as well. This took longer to get through the system ans the tongue tie clinic contacted me to say they wouldn't take the GP referral and needed the specialist midwife to refer which luckily I had also got done and already had the clinic booked.

I'm not sure if the lactation consultant who did your referral is one of the specialist midwives. They attend about 3 of the bf cafes a week. I can't remember which ones apart from the Peckham Library on Thursday mornings but health visitor should know. If it was one of these they pass the referral straight to tongue tie clinic and you should have an appointment soon.

I know this doesn't directly answer you question about BUPA but I hope it might be useful to know it can get done quickly without having to make a claim on insurance. Good luck with getting it sorted soon. It really dis help make bf easier so hope it does for you too.