BABY Chloe Wilson has stunned doctors by going from strength to strength – despite being born four months early weighing only 1lb 2oz.

Her mother, Michelle, gave birth 23 weeks into her pregnancy, making Chloe one of the most premature babies to have survived in the UK.

Medics gave Chloe and twin sister Ellie – born six minutes earlier – less than a ten per cent chance of survival, and Ellie died 30 hours later.

But Chloe, now two months old, is thriving in Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, and Mrs Wilson and her husband, Steven, from South Hetton, County Durham, hope she will be home by Christmas.

They have spoken of their shock at the premature births, their agony at losing Ellie, and their delight that Chloe is pulling through. She now weighs 2lb 13oz.

Mrs Wilson, 23, said: “I was at home and I didn’t feel too good, but didn’t think too much of it.

“As the evening went on, I began to feel a bit of pain. By about 7pm, I began to worry and we went through to the University Hospital of North Durham, where I was told I was 2cm dilated.

“They gave me steroids to help the babies’ lungs develop and I was rushed through to Newcastle because the Royal Victoria Infirmary has the facilities to care for such premature babies.”

Mr Wilson, 24, said: “It was an absolute shock. We were at the stage in pregnancy where you are thinking that in a few months’ time you will become a parent and see your children, but within hours they were with us.”

The couple had Ellie baptised and the family said goodbye before she died.

Chloe needed an operation to help her breathe, a heart operation and blood transfusion.

For the past two months, she has been in an incubator with oxygen to help her lungs develop.

Mrs Wilson said: “Gradually, they are taking her off the oxygen and she is almost capable of breathing on her own. With any luck, we will have her home for Christmas.”

Grandmother Olive Wilson said: “None of us have had time to grieve properly for Ellie, but Chloe is giving us inspiration.”