A BURY actress and former pop star is helping to shore up' support for research that could help parents form better bonds with premature babies.

Suzanne Shaw, former member of pop band Hear'Say, spoke to the Bury Times about why she is helping to promote premature birth charity BLISS. The mother-of-one also gave her support to the under-threat special care baby unit at Fairfield Hospital.

BLISS's researchers believe premature birth can affect the bond between parent and child because the baby spends time in an incubator rather than in its parents' arms. Its Support One in Eight campaign, so named because one in eight babies is born premature, aims to find solutions.

Twenty-five-year-old Suzanne said: "It's vital that mothers form an immediate bond with their children. It's a mummy's dream to hold your baby straight away. It must be devastating if that's not possible."

Suzanne has one son, Corey, with ex-boyfriend Darren Day. She described the two-year-old, who attends full-time nursery, as fun-loving but well behaved, and said she was looking forward to having more children.

"I want a big family," she said. "I can't wait. I'd have a whole football team if I could."

Fortunately her current boyfriend, Radio 1 DJ Jason King, is just as enthusiastic.

"JK has a great paternal instinct," she said. "He comes from a big family - with five sisters and a brother - so it comes naturally to him. He's a brilliant dad to Corey."

The former pupil of St Mary's Primary School, Radcliffe, and St Gabriel's High School, Bury, reiterated her support for Fairfield's special care baby unit.

She said: "I had a problem at my nan's in Radcliffe when I thought I was going into early labour and I had to be rushed to Fairfield by ambulance. The staff were amazing. It's something Bury needs. I don't think they should take such an important part of the hospital away. There are a lot of young mums in Bury!"

Suzanne will be back on television this month in ITV1 series The Baron - competing against former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren and Eastenders actor Mike Reid to be made the new baron of a Scottish village.

For more information on BLISS's Fairy-sponsored Support One in Eight campaign, visit www.softeningyourworld.com or look out for special packs of Fairy Non Bio and Fairy Fabric Softener.