Former The Only Way Is Essex star Lucy Mecklenburgh has revealed that her two-month-old daughter was recently taken to hospital for bronchiolitis, a chest infection that affects young children.
The 30-year-old reality TV star has two children with former Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas – two-year-old Roman and newborn Lilah.
Writing on her Instagram story, Mecklenburgh explained why she had been absent from the social media platform for a number of days.
She said: “Lots of messages asking where I’ve been for 5 days.
“Unfortunately Lilah got really poorly with bronchiolitis so we have had a few days in hospital. She is home now and doing well.
“I’m obviously not in any position to give medical advice but this is our experience for parents that may want to know what happened and what to look out for.
“It started with Roman having a really bad cough I presume he picked up at preschool, then Lilah caught it and 3 days in she wasn’t coping very well, tummy sucking in, cough getting worse, high temperature, coughing and choking on milk and her saliva.
“In hospital she needed some oxygen and was tube fed for a couple of days. She had a nose swab that tested positive for RSV which causes bronchiolitis. The swab isn’t routine anymore but with Roman’s health issues it was important for me to know exactly what she had.
“She’s home and happy now, just a little sleepy and still has a bad cough.”
She then shared a link to the NHS information page for bronchiolitis and information on breastfeeding a child suffering from the infection.
Bronchiolitis is a common chest infection that can affect babies and children under the age of two.
In a separate post on her Instagram page, she the shared further information about her daughter’s experience of the infection and its impact on Mecklenburgh’s ability to breastfeed.
Alongside an image of herself feeding her baby daughter, she wrote: “It’s #worldbreastfeedingweek and I wanted to share this monumental moment with you.
“Since Sunday Lilah has been in hospital with bronchiolitis. She was being tube fed and on oxygen.
“This moment is the special moment she had her first proper breast feed again and it felt amazing. There are times in my bf journeys with both my kids that I felt like I just wanted my body to myself for a day and sometimes felt overwhelmed with the sense of responsibility that they rely so heavily on me to be fed.
“This week I’ve felt lost not being able to feed my 2-month-old baby girl, or cuddle her and play with her. Even though I rarely left her side I missed her so much.
“There’s been lots of worry, lots of pumping and a hell of a lot of gratitude for the NHS doctors and nurses for getting my baby girl well again.
“World breast feeding week is about educating, sharing and supporting so I wanted to share our week of feeding and some useful resources that have helped me that are linked in my stories. X”
Mecklenburgh has previously been open with her followers about her Roman’s health after she and her 38-year-old husband discovered their son had turned “blue” while in his cot last year.
Roman was taken to hospital and subsequently spent time in the intensive care unit at St Mary’s Hospital in London.