Anorexic becomes a picture of motherhood

With her new son Michael, 20-year-old Hayley Wilde looks the picture of health. But just three years ago, in the grip of anorexia, she was told by doctors that she had 10 days to live.

Her battle with anorexia started when she was 11 and, by the age of 15, her weight plummeted to 5st 1oz and she was so malnourished that doctors thought she would die.

Her condition was such that her hair fell out and a down appeared on her arms as her body sought warmth to compensate for the lack of fat.

She gradually recovered but it was pregnancy last year that brought her back to healthy eating. Michael arrived on March 8 weighing 7lbs 14ozs.

Now studying to be a teacher, Miss Wilde, from Manchester, said: "I didn't have a lot of friends and didn't feel good about myself. I thought being thinner would make me more popular."