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Chris and Emma ( Burns and Bailey)'s son Archie was born at 30 week weighing just 2lb 12oz and was given his best chance of survival thanks to an incubator in the neonatal unit at the Leeds General Infirmary.

At 28 weeks pregnant, the first-time parents were told there was only an eight per cent chance that Emma would go into early labour, but just two weeks later Archie was born at their local hospital.

As well as being born prematurely, Archie also had OA and TOF (Oesophageal atresia and tracheo-oesophageal fistula) which had gone undiagnosed during pregnancy.

Emma and Chris have thanked the hospital and support their latest appeal to raise funds for more incubators.

The newborn struggled to breathe and feed normally and was transferred to Leeds Children's Hospital for specialist care.

Chris said: "The consultant at Leeds told us that Archie urgently needed an operation and he went in for surgery just a day after he was born.

"He was then taken to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) where he was in an incubator for two weeks.

“At first, we were scared seeing our little boy in the incubator and felt really detached from him, but the staff reassured us that Archie was in safe hands and talked us through everything.

Baby Archie was born prematurely at 30 weeks and used life saving equipment to go from strength to strength.

"We were absolutely amazed when they explained how much the incubator does to help babies like Archie, from regulating his temperature to minimising light and noise exposure.”

The family are now supporting the hospital's appeal to raise over £23,000 for a new baby LEO incubator.

Emma said: “It’s hard to put into words how grateful we are for the amazing care we’ve received at Leeds; we simply cannot thank the staff enough. Without the specialist care and access to the incubator, Archie would have had a much rockier start to life and might not be here with us today.”

Archie is now just over a month old and still needs heat support from an incubator but the family hope to be transferred back to their local hospital in November and be home in time for their first Christmas.

The appeal will help thousands of premature babies like Archie spend Christmas with their families.

For more information or to make a donation visit Leeds Cares website here.

First-time parents support hospital's urgent appeal after equipment helped save their son's life