A baby who had to be wrapped in cling film after her birth after her intestines grew outside her body is winning her fight for life.

Layla Henderson has now learned to smile despite a series of complications following her birth in the Highlands.

The discovery of the rare birth defect was followed by Layla being struck down with pneumonia and suffering a rare and deadly heart infection, which left her at sever risk of a stroke.

Since her first grin at a month old, her beaming face has helped her devoted parents Zoe Sweeney and James Henderson get through their ordeal.

The couple, from Nairn, Inverness-shire, are overjoyed at finally having their battling baby home, after five months in and out of hospitals across the country.

"It's magical being at home with her," said Miss Sweeney, 23.

"Looking back, I can't believe we got through it all. She's been through a hell of a lot and it felt like it was never going to end.

“Every day was a constant worry about what was going to happen next.

"But just seeing her smile helped us get through each day.

"She smiled for the first time when she was just over a month old. It was a heart-warming moment and the cutest smile I’ve ever seen.

"She was coping, so we felt we should do her proud and be able to cope with it, too."

Layla was treated in four different hospitals, and spent her first six days with her intestines suspended in a bag above her, after a rare form of hernia meant her bowel grew outside her body.

She has endured countless surgeries, tests and scans.

And twice she had to be rushed 200 miles to Glasgow - by ambulance at three months and by helicopter at four months - to prevent her from suffering a stroke.

Layla still has a dangerous blood clot in her heart - a rare complication from the infection - and her parents have to inject her with blood thinning drugs twice a day at home.

But today as she cradled her "miracle" daughter, Miss Sweeney was relieved the worst was over, as latest tests revealed the clot had reduced in size.

The family’s nightmare began when the young mum-to-be was just 12 weeks pregnant.

A routine scan showed Layla was suffering from gastroschisis, which meant there was a hole in her abdominal wall and her bowel was growing outside her body.

As a result Miss Sweeney had to travel to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow to be induced at 37 weeks and Layla arrived, weighing 5lb 10oz, on April 15.

Layla was then transferred to the city's Yorkhill Hospital and spent the next six days with her bowel suspended in a bag above her, to gradually guide it back into her body.

She was later released, but fell ill, at three months, on a family holiday. Tests later confirmed she was battling pneumonia.

After further tests at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, doctors there confirmed she was also fighting endocarditis, a rare and life-threatening heart infection which could have caused her to have a stroke.

She was transferred by ambulance back to hospital in Glasgow for a battery of tests before ending up at Raigmore.

Two weeks later a blood clot formed over the infection area that would leave her at severe risk of stroke and she had to return to Glasgow for treatment by air.

The five-month-old baby is now lapping up the attention at home.

She added: "She's definitely a fighter.

"She is a very content, happy baby, considering everything that she has gone through and it is very easy to make her smile."

"She enjoys having attention from myself and James, without being interrupted by nurses checking on her and giving her medication."

The family is now holding a series of fundraising events in aid of the Ronald McDonald House, which allowed the couple to be close to their daughter during her spell in the Glasgow hospital.