JUST months ago, mum Nicola Venter could have died giving birth to her son.

It was a traumatic experience - and led to her premature baby spending months in Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital.

But Nicola, 29, says she was lucky, because another mum had a premature baby on the same day as her. The support they gave each other as they worried about their babies' futures was vital.

So now Nicola, a telecommunications consultant from Tredegar Park, Newport, is setting up a help group for parents with premature babies.

She said: "When Luen was in hospital, one mum in particular had a baby born on the same day as me.

"We were a great support to each other, but there was no professional support network set up.

"So I'm going to hold meeting at my house for parents to share experiences."

She hopes to set the meeting up in the next few weeks and is hoping women whose babies have been through the neo natal unit at the Royal Gwent will go along for emotional support and practical advice from some of the hospital staff she is also staying in contact with.

The road to the emergency birth began when parents Nicola and Dawid Venter were in Johannesburg visiting family over Christmas last year. They had moved to Newport from South Africa five years earlier. Despite feeling unwell while abroad, Nicola was given the all clear to fly back.

But she was rushed to the Royal Gwent Hospital on January 2 suffering from severe pre-eclampsia.

It is a condition caused by a defect in the placenta, which joins mother and baby and supplies the baby with nutrients and oxygen from the mother's blood. It can cause dangerously high blood pressure.

Baby Luen was not due until March 31, but was delivered that day by emergency caesarean.

Luen weighed just 1lb and 7oz. He was released from hospital on March 24. Now, Luen weighs a healthy 12lbs.

*If you would like more information on the help group, contact the Royal Gwent Hospital on 01633 234234 and ask for the neo-natal unit.

Factfile

*More than 40,000 babies are born prematurely (before 37 weeks) every year in the UK. More than 4,000 of those weigh under 2lbs 2oz.

*There is a 17 per cent chance of survival for babies born at 23 weeks, rising to a 50 per cent chance of survival at 25 weeks.

* There are three levels of nursing care needed for premature babies. Special care babies require continuous monitoring of respiration or heart rate, receive added oxygen, and are tube fed. Babies needing intensive care can need continuous airway pressure or require major surgery. The nursing requirement for intensive care is a ratio of 5.5 nurses per cot allowing constant one to one nursing.

* 20 years ago, around 20 per cent of babies born at under 2lbs 2oz survived. That figure has risen to 80 per cent now.