THE parents of a tiny baby who weighed just over 1lb when she was born have heaped praise on the critical care staff who saved her life.

Little Ava-Rose Ramsbottom is thought to be the smallest baby ever delivered at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, and has now returned home after more than four months on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Burnley General Hospital.

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The story has highlighted the importance of the specialist unit, which could be threatened with closure in the coming years as part of an ongoing regional review of NHS services.

Ava-Rose was born at just 23 weeks and one day and dad Gary said it felt like a ‘miracle’ to see her discharged to their Clarence Avenue home in Burnley in time for Christmas.

The 28-year-old said: “The NICU staff were absolutely fantastic and she wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for them.

“She’s literally a miracle and having this unit on our doorstep has just been amazing.”

Gary and his fiancée Katie Anforth were shocked when she went into labour with twins on June 13 this year, because it was 14 weeks before her due date.

But doctors were able to delay the birth for two days, which proved crucial in keeping Ava-Rose alive, although her brother Jude did not pull through and was stillborn.

When she was rushed to the NICU, Ava-Rose’s survival chances were only about 20 per cent, and the family began a traumatic four-month wait for her health to improve.

Gary, who runs a rubber band manufacturing business, said: “It was such a tough experience, especially dealing with the loss of Jude at the same time, but the staff on the unit were unbelievable and gave us hope all the time. The first five weeks were really up and down.

“ I think she went through every ventilation machine they had, but she gradually got bigger and stronger and the hospital have been overwhelmed by her progress.

“We can’t thank the consultants and nurses enough for what they have done for us.

“When she was born I could hold her in my hand with her little legs dangling over, and staff told us she was the smallest baby ever born there.

“But she’s doing really well now and is ten times her original birth weight, at 10lb 4oz.”

Ava-Rose was able to go home last month, and although she still requires oxygen treatment, medics are hopeful she can make a full recovery.”

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust has recently also been named maternity service of the year by the Royal College of Midwives.

The nearest neonatal critical care services to East Lancashire are in Preston, Bolton, Wigan and Manchester.