A YOUNG mother whose new born son fell critically ill shortly said her decision to continue to breastfeed him ‘gave him the best chance of recovery’.

Nyree Seed, 20, had various complications during her pregnancy and after she gave birth to little Harvey in April last year.

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There were medical issues which left him in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Burnley General Hospital.

Nyree, of Gorse Street, Blackburn, has now told her story as part of National Breastfeeding week which ran until Sunday.

The week was supported by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

She said: “During the pregnancy I had a couple of complications, but with the continued support of all the staff I soon gave birth to little Harvey but he had to be taken to intensive care.

“As soon as I gave birth I wanted to try and give breastfeeding a go and after seeing Harvey become unwell and struggling I was more determined than ever.

“I knew my breast milk would give him the best chance of recovering quickly and so made sure he got milk every day for the week we were in NICU.

“After a very long week the doctors were happy with the progress that Harvey had made and let us go home.

“Once at home I continued to breastfeed Harvey and received lots of help from Donna Butler, who is part of the infant feeding team, based out of Blackburn Birth Centre.

“She has been available to help me 24/7 and really helped through difficult times, she helped when Harvey wasn’t latching and noticed he could be tongue tied. She was also a great help when I developed Mastitis and supported me through that.”

Nyree now works with a breast feeding support group which offers mothers the chance to get out the house and have a chat.

She said: “We are obviously open to speak to anybody that comes in about breastfeeding and give as much advice as possible, often pointing them in the right direction to speak to a professional.

“Breastfeeding has been the best thing I have ever done.

“It’s been hard at times but it’s the convenience, the benefit to Harvey and the bond it helps to create that make it so incredible.

“There are a lot of myths around breastfeeding from if you have small breasts you can’t do it all the way to it’s spoiling the baby if you do it. Make sure you get the right information, from the right people.”

Nyree’s breastfeeding support group runs once a week, on a Thursday morning from 10am at Wensley Fold Children’s Centre in Blackburn.