// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Mum of critically ill baby denied hospital food as she wasn't breastfeeding
"I just needed a hot meal to keep going for my daughter," Sophie said
A first-time mum was denied hospital meals while her baby was "fighting for her life" because she was not breastfeeding.
Sophie Price, 22, was "shocked" when staff refused to give her a meal while her daughter Florence was being treated on a paediatric ward at Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, Torfaen.
Despite giving birth in the hospital five days earlier, she was told she was no longer classed as a patient as she was not breastfeeding, so she would not be provided with meals.
Aneurin Bevan health board said it was "sorry to hear about Sophie's experience" and was "committed to supporting families throughout their child's stay".
"It was just an awful experience. I just needed a hot meal to keep going for my daughter," said Sophie, from Newport.
Her family said they spent more than £1,000 on food from the canteen and takeaway meals during their three-week stay at the hospital while Florence was treated.
Sophie said she and her husband were told Florence may "need to be induced into a coma at any point" during her treatment
Sophie had only left the hospital - which earlier this week denied online claims it was "dangerous" and "dreadful" - for 24 hours before she and her husband Ryli Price had to return when they realised Florence was not able to breathe and the "colour started to drain from her".
"Florence started to make some really harsh grunting sounds, it sounded like a death rattle coming from her chest up into her mouth," she said.