A NEW mum has already benefitted from money raised from this year’s OX5 Run after she was able to breastfeed her prematurely-born son.

Eight weeks ago Tsvetelina Petrova gave birth to her son Daniel 10 weeks early and was unable to produce enough milk for him.

Money raised from the Oxford Mail OX5 Run run earlier this year has funded various services provided at the Oxford Children’s Hospital.

These include a breast pump beside each incubator in the new Newborn Intensive Care Unit that allow premature babies to receive more of their mother’s milk and give them a better chance of survival.

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The self-employed Abingdon woman said: “Daniel was born in the 27th week of pregnancy and couldn’t have any other milk and I was struggling to produce enough for him.

“With the breast pumps I have enough to feed three babies and Daniel has gone from being in intensive care to a low dependency unit.”

The 30-year-old added: “The care they provided was fantastic. I’m really impressed, it was fabulous.

“They make you feel really special.

“The first time I saw the nurses they told me, ‘we are looking after you and not just your baby’.”

The mother-of-two said she would consider running in next year’s run as a thank you to all the care she had received.

Oxford Children’s Hospital spokeswoman Penny Hambridge: “We have been able to fund so many special projects thanks to the 2014 Oxford Mail OX5RUN and this is just one example of the difference the event makes to our very youngest patients.

“We are now gearing up for the 2015 run and hope readers will start their new year on a positive note by signing up for our March 29 run.”

The hospital said some of the £114,000 raised from this year’s run has also been spent on entertainment, toys and artwork for the new Children’s Out-patients department at the Horton hospital.

The money will also fund a specialist pain nurse to manage and reduce the severity of pain experienced by children at the hospital, for a year, and equipment for children with respiratory problems.

The event is being sponsored by Oxford recruitment firm Allen Associates for the seventh year in a row.

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