A MOTHER gave birth to healthy twins moments before undergoing life-saving open heart surgery, an ambulance service said yesterday.

Nina Whear, 38, was nine months pregnant when she taken ill at her home in Lamas, near Norwich.

After being taken to hospital, in the early hours of January 6, doctors diagnosed a potentially fatal heart condition and ordered an emergency Caesarean section.

Her twins Evie and Alfie were delivered a short time later, weighing 3lb 11oz and 4lb 10oz, while their mother was taken into theatre to be operated on.

“Doctors thought her chances of survival were only 7%,” said a spokeswoman for the East of England Ambulance Service. “The hospital chaplain and her husband were sent in to say goodbye. They didn’t expect her to pull through.”

But, against the odds, Mrs Whear woke up and has now returned home as she fights back to health, supported by her husband, Andy, 39, an Army sergeant.

“She was just surprised that she was still here – and with wonderful twins,” said the spokeswoman. “She is so grateful to the two ambulance technicians who realised how serious a condition she was in and to everyone who treated her.”