A PENKETH mum has been praising the work of health visitors in the town after they helped her get her son diagnosed with a severe reflux.

Natalie Owen said her son Lewis still weighed 7lb aged seven-weeks-old and was constantly crying before his condition was finally diagnosed.

Now aged eight-months-old, the youngster is finally big enough to wear aged six to nine month clothes and has been prescribed dairy-free milk and medication.

Mum Natalie, aged 21, said: “It was terrible and he was screaming all the time.

“Initially my GP told me all babies cry and didn’t think it could be reflux because he wasn’t projectile vomiting.

“But then he got worse and my health visitors referred us to Warrington Hospital and a milk test at Alder Hey confirmed he had reflux.”

The condition means the baby’s stomach contents, including milk, comes back up into the gullet or into the mouth and it can be painful when strong acid from the baby’s stomach comes up into his oesophagus.

Lewis’ condition has also lead to a delay in the development of his eyesight after spending prolonged periods crying which is now improving thanks to the eye team at the hospital.

“He’s such a good little baby now and sleeps so much better”, Natalie added.

“I didn’t know anything about it at first but after googling it I found it’s more common than I thought and three of my friends who have recently had babies have also been given infant gaviscon to treat it.

“By one-year-old most babies grow out of it so we’ll have to see what happens now.

“I think as a mum you know when something is wrong and my health visitors believed in me from day one.

“They don’t get enough credit for all the things they do and I want to thank them for helping me and getting Lewis referred as otherwise things could have been a lot worse.”