Mum gives birth four months early

A woman has given birth at just 23 weeks pregnant, a full four months earlier than her due date.

Ellonn Smartt, from Iowa in the US, says she did her best to stay calm when her waters broke, knowing staying calm would give her baby the best chance of survival.

"I knew if I panicked, the baby would pick up on that and get stressed," the 25-year-old told Today Parents. "I couldn't let that happen."

When she arrived at Iowa Methodist Medical Centre, she told doctors she wasn't due until November and they quickly explained just how precarious the situation was.

"I was heartbroken," she said. "They said I was going to have to deliver in the next day or two and there was a good chance he wouldn't survive.

"That was the moment when I fell apart."

Smartt was quickly joined by her partner, boyfriend Jordan Morrow, 27, and their son Elijah, three.

She told KCCI her son told her, "Mummy, everything will be fine."

"We think kids don't notice these things or understand what's going on, but he did," she says.

Smartt gave birth to son Jaden Wesley Morrow on July 11. He weighed just 387 grams.

The couple were unable to hold their child who was placed in an incubator.

"I tell him that I'm proud of him every day," Smartt says. "His arms and toes were moving and he was trying to breathe on his own.

"He's our little miracle."