Cancer mum's baby dies after 8 days

Baby Ally and mum Heidi Loughlin.

She made the agonising decision to give birth 12 weeks early so she could begin lifesaving treatment for breast cancer.

But last night Heidi Loughlin delivered the devastating news that her daughter Ally Louise Smith had passed away after eight days.

The 33-year-old Briton was 13 weeks pregnant with Ally, her third child, when she was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer - a rare form of the disease.

She refused to have an abortion and instead decided to delay taking a life-saving drug for the sake of her unborn child.

Only when doctors revealed that her chances of survival were getting slimmer did Loughlin agree to bring the birth forward as she did not want to leave her two sons without a mother.

Loughlin, who has been with partner Keith Smith for seven years, last night paid tribute to her daughter - who was born on December 11 weighing just 1.13 kilograms - with a poem.

It reads: "Yesterday afternoon our hearts broke in two, / For we had to say goodbye to you. / Our love for you is a beautiful haze,

"Even though you lived for eight short days. / We kissed you, we cuddled you, we tickled your feet, / And I know again one day we'll meet. / Today brought a rainbow, the lightest of hue, / And I wondered if it was sent from you?"

Loughlin, who also has sons Tait, one, and Noah, two, added: "Our beautiful daughter Ally Louise, / I whisper your name and it drifts on the breeze. / The pain in my body and heart and my soul / Feels it will consume me and leave me un-whole.

"Your brothers will honour you in all that they do, / We forever have 3 children, not just two. / I will try to heal for you, and my body unfurl, You'll be always beside me our beautiful girl."

A serving officer in the UK's Metropolitan Police, Loughlin had been breastfeeding her son Tait when she noticed a rash on her breast - but two doctors dismissed her concerns as mastitis.

Once cancer was diagnosed, Loughlin, who lives in Portishead, Somerset was told she also had HER2, a protein that can boost the growth of cancer cells. To combat this, she would need the drug Herceptin - which could kill her unborn child.

She was offered a termination. But she instead began a form of chemotherapy considered safe in pregnancy. When it didn't work, doctors advised her to bring the birth forward, telling her that babies born at 28 weeks have a 90 per cent chance of survival.

Loughlin later said her daughter - who she called "a proper little fighter" - was "doing exceptionally". She added: "No mother dreams of having a baby at 28 weeks. But having a baby at 28 weeks is much better than not having a baby at all."

Tragically her daughter passed away aged eight days old on Saturday.

- Daily Mail