While the nation shares the grief of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his wife over the loss of their premature baby, we are pleased to be able to turn over the coin and report a happier story - of an infant who has survived and is thriving against considerable odds.

It is thanks to a lot of luck, as well as to the skill and care of staff at the renal unit at the BRI, that little Megan Ioannides is now home from hospital and giving her parents the sort of sleepless nights that babies everywhere inflict on their households.

That she is able to do so is remarkable. Her conception was in itself a great surprise to everyone concerned, as Megan's mother suffers from kidney failure, which normally leads to infertility. That hurdle cleared, the dialysis carries a danger of high blood pressure.

There was every risk of a miscarriage, or at best of the baby having to be delivered prematurely and being seriously underweight. However, Megan neatly avoided all these hazards, went full term, and arrived on her own the day before it had been planned to induce the birth, weighing in at a respectable 5lb 10oz.

Although it is the first case of its kind that Bradford consultant obstetrician Derek Tuffnell has seen in his 18-year career, it is bound to offer hope to other women that advances in the care and treatment of kidney patients could also help them.

Meanwhile, our very best wishes to Megan's mother that she will soon have the transplant she needs, and to Megan herself for a happy and healthy future.