A mum who thought she was infertile after receiving kidney dialysis has shocked doctors by giving birth to a 5lb 10oz baby girl.

Tiny Megan Ioannides, pictured with mum Lorna, is the first baby to be born to a dialysis patient in Bradford's renal unit since it opened in 1994.

And she is one of only a handful of babies to survive a full-term pregnancy while the mother receives such treatment.

Mum Lorna, 22, thought she was infertile after being diagnosed with glomerulonephritis - the most common cause of kidney failure.

Hooked up to a life-saving artificial kidney machine three times a week, she was shocked to discover the pregnancy, which carried a high chance of miscarriage and poor growth. She also faced the potentially fatal risk of high blood pressure as she continued dialysis.

But Lorna successfully gave birth to the baby sister she had dreamed of for their four-year-old son Anthony, who was born before she suffered her kidney failure.

Lorna and her husband George, 32, of Pentland Avenue, Clayton, had not prepared anything for the new arrival as they did not want to tempt fate. She said: "I had the symptoms of being pregnant, but I didn't put two and two together. When I found out, I was hoping to get through the first three-month stage, but I had a scan and found out I was five months. It was an incredible surprise.

"We were a bit anxious about her going full-term and I don't think the doctors were terribly optimistic either. I did feel frightened - I had scans fortnightly to check everything was going okay, but the things everyone was concerned about never really happened. This is just what we wanted - a little girl and a little boy."

Head of Bradford Royal Infirmary renal unit, Dr Robin Jeffrey, said it was very rare for dialysis patients to give birth as kidney failure reduced hormonal function and led to infertility.

"Of those that do conceive, there's a very high incidence of early abortion and for those that get through that, it's usually the case that it's a premature delivery," he said.

"There's a high incidence of growth retardation so even if it survives, it's normally a little baby. And there's a danger for the mother in that it can lead to very high blood pressure level during dialysis.

"It's complex at every stage. The great thing is that the baby was not small. It couldn't have gone better."

Dialysis sessions to purify Lorna's blood were increased to every second day during pregnancy and doctors planned to induce the baby to avoid extra risk.

But Lorna, a former marketing and PR officer, beat them to it, having her first contractions as she was dialysing in hospital.

Derek Tuffnell, Bradford consultant obstetrician, said it was the first case of its kind that he had seen in his 18-year career.

"Women who have got kidney problems are much more likely to get problems with the placenta, so much the baby is more likely to be small," he said.

"But happily, her blood pressure stayed nice and steady and the baby grew reasonably well.

"I've been in Bradford for ten years and this is the first case out of the best part of 60,000 deliveries that I'm aware of. Probably ten years ago, it was even less likely to have happened. She did really well."

Megan is now back home with her family and causing the normal problems such as sleepless nights. And Lorna is back on the transplant list, waiting for a new kidney.

Proud dad George, a manager at the Acropolis caf in Bradford, said the shock had not yet sunk in.

"I was always optimistic, but also worried that it wasn't going to happen. I'm just glad that everything went okay. I'm very happy"