WHAT a difference a year makes. Just 12 months ago, tiny Millie Fox was fighting for her life after she was born weighing just 1lb 15oz.

She was not due until May, but her mother, Susan, went into labour almost four months early.

Doctors at Middlesbrough's South Cleveland Hospital initially thought the tiny infant was dead, but a nurse noticed a faint sign of breathing and a life-saving operation swung into action.

Yesterday, a year later, Millie was celebrating her first birthday with Susan and father Paul.

Millie, who now weighs just over one stone, tucked into her birthday tea as she enjoyed a weekend party with her family and friends.

Mrs Fox, of Usway Court, Ingleby Barwick, Stockton, said: "She is doing really well and is very healthy.

"She went for her three-monthly check-up on Friday and they were really pleased with her.

"She is still a bit small for her age but, when you think of all she has been through, she is doing brilliantly.

"If she had been born on time, she would have only been nine months old - so, relatively, she's not that small."

After her parents brought her home in April last year, Millie needed extra feeding through a tube because she did not have the strength to breast-feed all the milk she required