These three babies have just been voted the winners in the Boots the Chemist Baby of the Year competition.

The competition at Boots' Keighley store was judged in three categories. Alexandra Walsh won the 'brave' section. Max Greathead won the 'bubbly' category, and Nicholas Sharples won the 'bright' section. Each baby received a certificate, a toy and a CD.

The three will now be considered for the national final, and if selected there will be a phone-in competition in a national newspaper to decide the overall baby of the year. A holiday abroad for four is one of the prizes.

It's a remarkable story for 15-month-old Alexandra. Mum Theresa, who also has a ten-year-old son, lost four babies before her daughter was born. She spent the last 12 weeks of her pregnancy in Airedale Hospital before Alexandra arrived nine weeks premature and by emergency caesarian.

Alexandra was also born with respiratory distress syndrome and spent the first six weeks of her life in a hospital incubator. Later she was rushed back to hospital with suspected meningitis. In November last year, following a tumble down the stairs at the family home in Haworth, Alexandra broke her leg.

She has been through a great deal but Theresa and her partner Dale are just glad to have her. "We thought I would never have another child," says Theresa.

The store also held a Mother's Day competition in which children had to draw a picture of their mums. The winners were: age 3-6, Philippa Coles-Bayes, four, of Westfell Road, Keighley; age 7-9, Hayley Barrett, eight, of Fell Lane, Keighley; age 10-12, Chris Morton, 11, of Hospital Road, Riddlesden. Each win their mums a No7 makeover and Kyusu toiletries.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.