Hannah Brameld, 44, from Beckenham, has spoken about the ordeal of nearly losing her twin daughters before a pregnancy complication left them with less than a 10% chance of survival, as the girls prepare to start school. At 16 weeks pregnant, she and her husband James were told Ruby and Scarlett had Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, a life-threatening condition in which blood flows unevenly between twins sharing a placenta, discovered during a routine scan at King's College Hospital.

A week after diagnosis, Mrs Brameld underwent successful in-womb surgery, though it ruptured her waters and raised fears over Scarlett's lung development. The twins were born by emergency caesarean on 30 November 2021, with Ruby weighing just 1lb 10.5oz and Scarlett 2lb 3oz, and both needed ventilators immediately. They went on to face serious complications, including infections, sepsis and heart and lung problems, spending a combined 300 days in hospital before finally going home, an experience that led Mrs Brameld to leave her career in fashion to work for neonatal charity Ickle Pickles.