Cancer mum Heidi Loughlin's premature baby dies

Ally Louise Smith was born by C-section on 11 December

A baby who was born 12 weeks prematurely in order for her mother to be treated for cancer has died.

Heidi Loughlin, 32, discovered she had a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer after falling pregnant with her third child.

Ally Louise Smith was born by C-section on 11 December weighing just 2lb 5oz but died on Saturday.

Ms Loughlin, from Portishead, North Somerset posted a poem dedicated to her daughter on her blog.

In it, the Metropolitan Police officer wrote: "Yesterday afternoon our hearts broke in two. For we had to say goodbye to you."

She added that "the pain in my body and heart and my soul feels it will consume me and leave me un-whole".

Doctors discovered Ms Loughlin's cancer in September after she noticed a rash on her breast while feeding her baby son Tait.

She was given the option of terminating the pregnancy so she could begin aggressive chemotherapy.

But she decided to keep her baby and begin a less aggressive form of treatment which is expected to start on Wednesday.

Writing on her blog after Ally's birth, the mother-of-three said she was "absolutely thrilled" to announce the baby had been born safely.

"She was born today via c section at 1237. She came out foot first and is breathing on her own. She weighs 2lb 5ozs. She has a Laughlin (sic) nose and she has more hair than me!!!"

Ms Loughlin has two sons Tait, aged one, and two-year-old Noah with her partner Keith Smith