Letter: Cuddled for life

Sir: I read with interest the article on 'kangaroo care' for premature babies ('Kangaroos know that cuddles work best', 18 August).

I was born in 1921, many weeks premature. The doctor handed me to my mother, and both he and the midwife said I couldn't survive. My mother has told me that she placed me naked between her breasts, and kept me there for many weeks. I was too weak to suckle, so she fed me drops of milk and water through a medicine dropper, and at times a tiny drop of brandy.

I am now 71 years of age and living proof of the power and dedication of the maternal instinct.

Yours sincerely,

ANGELA M. FRAMPTON

North Shields, Tyne and Wear

19 August