A MIRACLE mum has defied the odds for a third time after welcoming her new baby - despite having sections of her cervix removed.

Dannie Shankland, from Cumnock, had given birth to her son Mckenzie at just 24 weeks pregnant and was told he would never walk.

But now Mckenzie, 11, who suffers from cerebral palsy, can run, climb trees, and ride his bike like any other child.

a year after McKenzie’s birth, Dannie went into premature labour with daughter Madison, now 10, at just 28 weeks.

After the two high risk births Dannie was sure she would never conceive again after having parts of her cervix removed, finding out she had polycystic ovaries, a tilted womb, cancerous cells, cervical incompetence, and a shortened cervix.

But the mum was left stunned to find that despite everything, she was pregnant again, and her due date was Christmas Day.

Dannie says she was over the moon to find out she would be extending her family, but terrified of the risks she was taking on.

Dannie said: “There was a very slim chance I would ever get pregnant again, but I was happy with my two.

“My periods started playing up so I phoned the doctor and went for a smear test.

“I thought I’d take a pregnancy test before I went because they also check you for that and I couldn’t believe it.

“They wanted me to go for a scan at Crosshouse and found I was six weeks pregnant.

“I was in shock but it was absolutely amazing.

“It actually took me two or three weeks to get over the shock but I had the absolute fear that we wouldn’t make it to 12 weeks.”

Despite the stressful few weeks doctors were happy with the pregnancy and it’s progress with Dannie feeling like the Crosshouse team couldn’t have been any better.

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But she started to fear the worst after suffering intense pains at just 17 weeks and was rushed in for an emergency stitch to be put in place to help strengthen her womb.

The surgery had held off labour as for as long as possible but at 31 weeks Harlow arrived, she went home weighing just 4lbs 3oz.

Dannie says she couldn’t believe that with the help of medics she had pulled off a third miracle.

Dannie said: “Harlow’s due date was Christmas Day but she was born on November 3 and we brought our wee girl home November 20.

“She was just 3lbs12oz when she was born and 6lbs 15oz when we took her home.

“It’s amazing, you think you think would never happen to anyone you know.

“When it happens you expect the worse they but when we see them now you can’t describe how good that is.

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“We thought Mckenzie might never walk but when he took his first steps it was incredible and seeing him riding a bike was so good you couldn’t even put it into words.

“After two other stressful births staff at Crosshouse were so helpful and reassuring which was great for me.

“The midwives were absolutely amazing, I couldn’t fault them at all.”