Comment: Little Olivia is a modern miracle

It may not be that unusual for a premature baby to survive these days. In fact, we seem to take for granted that we can keep these tiny souls alive.

Yet you have only to look at the little face of Olivia Wells in one of the early pictures of her we have printed today to marvel at her.

She was so tiny when she was born that she could sit in the palm of her mum's hand. Her tiny lungs had not properly formed. And time and again, she stopped breathing.

For weeks, this little mite hovered on the brink of life.

But slowly, thanks to the round the clock care and attention she received, she began to grow stronger.

For a baby born at such an early stage, nothing is straightforward.

Even the natural act of feeding becomes a microscopic operation.

But little Olivia has won through and now she has smiled for the first time. By rights she should have been born just a few days ago. Yet she is almost two-and-a-half months old.

For her mum and dad, these past weeks must have seemed a lifetime.

The fact that she is alive today is a miracle of modern medical procedures, and the skill and devotion of nurses and doctors.

It is a tribute to the staff at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital that she is alive.

For them, Olivia's story is probably routine, for they devote their working lives to saving babies like her.

But to the rest of us Olivia's story is nothing short of remarkable.

Let's hope she continues to do well.