The UK’s tiniest twins who were born prematurely at just 23 weeks old have beaten the odds and returned home after being given less than 1% chance of survival.

Brothers Ashley and Joe weighed less than a small bottle of water each and could fit into the palm of their mother’s hand when they were born three months prematurely at 23 weeks old.

The brothers both had chronic lung disease and spent 129 days in intensive care in Bristol Southmead hospital and the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Mother of six from Wiltshire, Talia, has said that the twins are her “bouncing little miracles”.

Talia said: “The doctors gave Joe just a one percent chance after what he’s gone through. And the consultant said it was incredibly rare for both twins to survive with such low birth weights. I feel extremely lucky and grateful. I guess they are one in a million.”

The twins are now part of the growing ranks of premature babies to beat the odds and survive including Isabella Evans who returned home to her family earlier this year after being born smaller than a packet of baby wipes at just 24 weeks old and Amelia Taylor who, in 2016, was born at 21 weeks and six days old and is one of the world’s youngest premature babies to ever survive.

Evidence provided by Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, John Wyatt, shows that a baby born at 23 weeks old has a 50% chance of surviving. His evidence illustrates that 30 years ago, less than 20% of babies born before 28 weeks of gestation survived. However, advances in medical care at the beginning of life have transformed the prospects of survival for premature babies.

Evidence now affirms that 35% of babies born four months premature at 22 weeks old now survive if treated.