A newborn girl cannot be breastfed by her mother because she could not get treatment at her local hospital.

Millie Hammond, who is now three weeks old, from Carshalton, has a condition called tongue-tie, which means her tongue is held down by a membrane, making it impossible for her to be breastfed.

The midwife at St Helier Hospital, where Millie’s mother Nicola Russell, 33, gave birth, spotted the condition on the same day she was born, but Miss Russell was told the procedure to cure Millie could not be performed at the hospital for several weeks.

But the situation has dragged for so long, Miss Russell will not be able to breastfeed Millie anymore, even after the appointment she managed to book at St George’s Hospital, in Tooting, in two weeks time.

Miss Russell said: “I was desperate to breastfeed my little girl, but I couldn’t and now I really can’t because I don’t have any more milk.

"I’m really angry and disappointed.

“I was given a leaflet with other centres to go to, Bourne Hall and Dorking Medical Centre, but they all turned me down.

"They said they didn’t receive funding from Sutton so I could not have it done there. We were told to go private, but we couldn’t afford it. It would cost £100.

“Now I’m sitting here bottle feeding my baby who is not even a month old and won’t ever have the chance to bond with her through breastfeeding.”

Millie is Miss Russell’s third child and the other two were breastfed normally.

The surgical procedure to treat Millie’s condition is simple and sometimes performed without the need for anaesthetics.

A spokeswoman for Epsom and St Helier Trust said: “We are sorry to hear that Miss Russell was unhappy with the care she received.

"We would encourage Miss Russell to contact us directly.

"In the meantime, a midwife will visit Miss Russell as a matter of urgency, to make sure that both her and her baby are well.”

• What do you think? Let us know by email here, phone the newsdesk on 020 8330 9555 or leave a comment below.