When Sadie Cratchley went into labour four months before her due date, doctors warned her to prepare for the worst.

With just a one per cent chance of surviving labour, specialists told the mother-to-be to ‘let her go’.

But the 20-year-old refused to give up on her unborn daughter.

Tiny Kaci-Rose Cratchley was born at 23 weeks and weighed just 1lb 2oz – half the weight of a bag of sugar.

Doctors said that if she had gone into labour one day earlier they would not have attempted life-saving treatment – and warned there was a 99 per cent chance she would not survive delivery.

But Kaci-Rose defied all the odds, spending eight months growing stronger and now weighs just over 8lbs – the same as a newborn.

Mrs Cratchley said: ‘She was literally the size of my hand when she was born. She was bright red and her skin was really delicate. You could see all her veins.

‘I don’t know why I went into labour so early, but if I had gone into hospital a day earlier they would have sent me home because the pregnancy was not considered viable.

‘They wouldn’t have attempted treatment at 22 weeks and six days, but my birth was completely natural and after that the chance of Kaci-Rose surviving increased to 25 per cent.’

Mrs Cratchley said her pregnancy went smoothly until she was rushed to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset, after noticing she was bleeding.

Kaci-Rose was born on January 9 weighing just 1lb 2oz and measuring just 10.8 inches.

She said: ‘By the time I got to the hospital I was 4cm dilated. I was quite drugged-up but I was terrified.

‘We were told there was a one per cent chance of her making it through labour. When they told me that I just cried and cried.

‘The doctors asked us to decide whether we wanted them to try and save her.

‘They told us they could try but that she probably wouldn’t make it. It was a terrifying moment but it wasn’t really a decision that needed to be made.’

Kaci-Rose was put on a ventilator and transferred to the neonatal unit at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, just hours after being born.

She was attached to tubes to help her breathe because her lungs were so tiny and underdeveloped, and was put on medication to support her kidneys.

Her mother said: ‘It was scary because she still had all of these machines connected to her. There were lots of different wires and tubes attached.

‘She was on the ventilator for 11 weeks and I wasn’t able to hold her until after then.

‘She also had laser eye surgery at about three months because her blood vessels weren’t developing properly.

‘The whole six months we were in hospital with her there were so many ups and downs.’

Mrs Cratchley and her husband Marc, a warehouse operative, were allowed to take Kaci-Rose home to Highbridge, Somerset, when she weighed 6lbs 1oz.

She was still connected to a monitor to measure her heart rate and oxygen levels and even now relies on a tube to provide her with oxygen.

Mrs Cratchley said: ‘She is eight months old now but has the development of a four-month-old. She weighs 8lbs 7oz and is about 56cm long now, so about the size of a newborn.

‘We were told she may develop cerebral palsy but it is too early to know for sure yet.

‘We were also told she might have significant vision and hearing challenges, but she can hear and see some things.

‘So far she has proved everyone wrong. I’m absolutely thrilled with how far she has come.

‘It has been a very emotional journey and it is still challenging.

‘We take each day as it comes but at the moment we are just enjoying spending time with her and doing absolutely everything we can to give her the best possible life.’

The couple are now keen to share their story with other parents to show the world that extremely premature babies can survive.

She said: ‘It was heartbreaking seeing her with so many tubes and needles.

‘She has gone through so much in her little life, but every step has given us the chance to have her with us today.

‘I just want to say a big thank you to all the staff and also to other parents who are faced with situations like this.

‘As difficult as it is, never lose hope and give your baby every possible chance. Kaci-Rose has shown that amazing things can happen.’

Source:  Daily Mail