Heart-op mum can hug her baby at last!

So imagine the agony of a mum who risks killing herself if she dares to engage in this most natural of bonding activities, a dilemma Faith Ellis, from Allerton, faced when son Brandon was born in February.

Just a simple cuddle would have forced apart the staples holding her chest together, put in place after a heart transplant.

But now, after months of watching her family pamper her son, Faith, pictured here with Brandon, has at last been able to cradle him in her arms.

"I think Brandon was more shocked than me," said the 19-year-old mother.

"But now I just can't stop picking him up and if I ever leave him alone for a few minutes he starts crying.

"It was weird when I picked him up for the first time but a really nice experience.

"I can't really explain it, it's unusual to hold him up and say that he's my son.

"For all this time I'd been watching my family picking Brandon up, feeding him and changing his nappies, and now it's my turn. It's fantastic."

In August, Faith underwent a heart transplant at the Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester, an operation her dad, John had been put through nine years earlier.

Doctors had originally told Faith to wait until the end of the month before attempting to pick up Brandon but, encouraged by John, her dad, she took the plunge on Monday.

She said: "Now I change his nappy and feed him all the time.

"The only problem with changing him is that he sometimes kicks out and I have to be careful he doesn't hit me in the chest.

"I still can't pick him up from the cot because bending over might put too much of a strain on my chest.

"The doctors have said I'm doing fine and slowly life's getting back to normal."

Dad John, 42, said the whole family had been lifted by seeing mother and son embrace for the first time.

He said: "Faith was getting a bit frustrated so we just told her to pick Brandon up and she was so chuffed.

"A little bit at a time she's getting there."