A BABY born so tiny she could have "fitted into a jam jar" has defied the odds to give her proud parents the best Christmas possible.

Harriette Mobbs weighed in at just under a pound when she was born 13 weeks prematurely on Monday, October 2.

Now, almost three months on, she has more than trebled her weight and is growing by the day at her temporary home in Hereford's Special Care Baby Unit.

"I can pick her up now, which is wonderful," said mum Anna Parsons, from West Malvern.

The 22-year-old and her partner Nick Mobbs, who work together at G Webb Automation in Malvern, visit their daughter every evening.

"The hardest thing is not being there when she wakes up. I want to be there for her," said Anna.

She had no idea there were problems with the pregnancy until she was rushed to hospital on October 1 with severe stomach pains.

"I didn't have any symptoms prior to that," she said. "I'd been swimming that day and out for dinner. I thought the pain was indigestion."

What she didn't know as that she was suffering from pre-eclampsia, which can cause seizures.

Nick, aged 37, took her to Worcester's Ronkswood Hospital, where the decision was taken to deliver the baby by emergency Caesarean.

Harriette was born at 7am the next day, and was transferred to North Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent.

"She was so small she could have fitted into a jam jar," said doting grandfather Geoff Parsons.

"The team that cared for her said she was the smallest baby they'd ever looked after," added Anna, who was in intensive care for two days, because pre-eclampsia affects the liver and kidneys and creates a continued risk of seizures.

Anna was then transferred to Stoke-on-Trent where she spent the next month sleeping in the special family unit near her daughter, the couple's first child.

Two weeks ago, Harriette was transferred to Hereford and is delighting nursing staff, and her parents, with her progress.

"She's in a cot now, with four-hourly feeds, and there are no drips," said Anna.

The couple have been told they can take her baby home in "about" two weeks.