A record-breaking baby girl who was born at just 21 weeks and five days has spent Easter at home with her delighted parents after spending five months in neonatal care.

Little Frieda was born on November 7, 2010, at Fulda Children's Hospital in Germany. She weighed just 1lb and measured 11 inches.

Medical miracle: Baby Freida, pictured at five months, only weighed 1lb at birth in Fulda, Germany

When doctors allowed her to go home last Wednesday she weighed a far healthier 7lb 11oz and measured nearly 20 inches.

The youngster is the most premature baby in Europe to have survived. She shares the world record with James Elgin Gill who was also born 128 days early in Ottawa, Canada in 1987.

The clinic's chief doctor, Reinald Repp, said he saw 'no indication that she will not be healthy' and described her survival as a 'medical miracle.'

Sadly her twin brother Kilian died six weeks after birth due to heart and intestinal problems.

Frieda's parents Yvonne Mangold, 33, and her husband John, 38, a teacher, told the Fulder newspaper: 'We are overjoyed. But the happiness feels strange as   we are sad at the same time. Kilian is in our thoughts every day.'

Yvonne started to suffer from complications when she was just 15 weeks pregnant.

She was rushed to hospital at 20 weeks and two days after a doctor told her she was on the verge of going into labour during a routine check-up.

Medics managed to delay the birth for a further 10 days, before placing the tiny brother and sister in intensive care.

Yvonne said: 'Professor Repp us that his team would do everything for our children, but he could not promise anything.'

Kilian died in December while Frieda's life hung by a thread before she eventually pulled through.

'Frieda was kept in a completely sterile environment, with her breathing assisted and fed through her navel,' Dr Repp told the Bild newspaper.

He added that the medical staff at the hospital in Fulda were experienced at treating unusually premature babies.

It will add fuel to the debate surrounding the legal limit for abortions in the UK. Women can currently terminate a pregnancy during the first 24 weeks.

Doctors at many hospitals leave babies born at 23 weeks or earlier to die as only nine out of 100 such babies survive. Many that do survive are left with severe disabilities.

Babies born before 22 weeks are thought to have almost no chance of surviving because their lungs, heart and brain are not sufficiently developed.

Article Original Printed in Daily Mail