A mum whose premature daughter was finally allowed home on Mother's Day has said she owes "everything" to the hospital staff who cared for her.

Louise Cutting from Deal was just 26 weeks pregnant when she was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother Hospital in Thanet on December 20 in labour.

Her daughter Nancy was born the following day weighing only 1lb and 14oz – less than a bag of sugar – and whisked off into intensive care.

Unable to hold her newborn until she was a week old, the 34-year-old, who is also mum to Kingsley, 10, and two-year-old Luella, was delivered a photograph of the tot to her bedside.

She spent Christmas Day inside the neonatal unit while her other children spent the day in the car park, only eating a roast dinner together at home at 8pm.

After 97 days – 93 of which Nancy spent in an incubator – three blood transfusions and a course of triple strength antibiotics, the family received the news they had all been waiting for on Mother's Day.

In what was a surprise for Ms Cutting, her partner Luke and their children, Nancy was discharged in good health and is settling in well to her new surroundings.

Now, Ms Cutting wants to extend her gratitude to the professionals who helped her daughter pull through and also provided support and guidance to her family at their most vulnerable time.

She told KentOnline: "I owe them my everything.

"You read a lot of bad press about the trust but I want the staff to know that their role is far bigger than their pay packet.

"They are loving, supportive and empathetic.

"They are not just nurses, they are counsellors and therapists and they became like family."

Ms Cutting says this is particularly significant for her having become detached from her own family.

"I opened up to them and they opened their hearts to me," she added.

Ms Cutting's previous pregnancies had been straight forward and she had given birth without complication.

But she described her pregnancy with Nancy as being "on edgy ground" from quite early on.

During the pandemic she suffered two miscarriages and feared a third with Nancy when she haemorrhaged at 13 weeks and again at 20 weeks.

Despite this trauma, she says she was reassured by medical staff at all times including in the late-night transfer from the QEQM to William Harvey hospital.

She told how one midwife didn't leave her side during the ambulance ride and even had to make her own way back.

She praised another staff member who put pressure on William Harvey to ensure a bed was made available for her, instead of having to be transferred to a London hospital where she would have been away from her other children over Christmas.

On other occasions, she said how staff gave her children presents 'from Nancy' on Christmas Day, and rosettes as awards.

One time when Nancy was more stable, a staff member held her up to a window so her siblings could see her for the first time.

Ms Cutting said: "Being thrown into this situation, where you have to leave one of your children with them every day, is indescribable.

"How could I chose which of my children to spend Christmas Day with?

"But throughout all of this, the staff just make so much difference.

"We celebrated Christmas, New Year, two birthdays and Mother's Day there.

"Not one of those times did they let it go unnoticed.

"They go above and beyond.

"They nursed and nurtured me, put up with continuous phone calls and kept us updated on an app multiple times a day.

"These are people who don't even have their tea and coffee provided in the staff room."

Having made the 42-mile round trip to Ashford to see Nancy every day, Ms Cutting described being told she could take her home on Mother's Day as "surreal".

She said: "One of the nurses just said 'You fancy going home today?'

"I laughed and said 'I go home every day', and then she said 'No, with Nancy!'

"I didn't know what to say, I just started crying. It was surreal, like all my dreams had come true.

"I can't take my eyes off her. I'm in awe of her and in awe of the team."

Miss Cutting has since written to PG Tips and Tetley to ask for donations of tea bags for the staff.

She is also encouraging anyone who can, to donate to the hospital's East Kent Tiny Toes charity.