Ben Mee has revealed details of an inspiring conversation he had with David Silva about premature births.

Mee’s daughter, Olive, was born at 24 weeks (classified as extremely preterm), weighing around the same as a tin of beans at 1lb 2oz.

It was a similar scenario to the one City legend Silva found himself in when his son Matteo entered the world in December 2017.

Silva and Mee had a discussion before the Premier League game between City and Burnley in June 2020, and Mee says hearing Silva’s experiences helped him and his wife Sarah cope through a difficult time, which had seen Olive spend 16 weeks in NICU during a period of COVID-enforced restrictions at the hospital.

“I wanted that bit of reassurance from him and to hear that was nice. We hadn’t really spoken to anyone who had such a premature baby,” former City Academy player Mee says.

“I went back and spoke to Sarah and it was nice for us to hear David’s son was doing really well and what a happy boy he was. Coming away from that was really positive.”

You can watch a video of Ben discussing the conversation below!

Today is World Prematurity Day and Mee is using his platform and profile to raise awareness of the difficulties parents face during pregnancy.

For more information, please visit Tommy’s.