Surgeons saved the life of a critically ill baby by fitting her with a miniature artificial heart while she waited for a transplant.

The procedure - only the second operation of its kind on a child in Britain - involved connecting tubes directly from 18-month-old Claudia Twiby's heart to a device on the outside of her chest.

For nearly a month the "Berlin Heart" pumped blood around her body until a donor heart became available.

Now Claudia is making excellent progress after her transplant operation and has returned to the home in Westfield Avenue, Brighton, she shares with her parents Jodie Lansdale, 32, and Shaun Twiby, 42, and sisters Pasha, 11, Lara, nine, and Millie, two.

The life-saving device takes over the functions of the patient's sick heart until doctors find a suitable donor organ.

Hospitals are in desperately short supply for organs for babies and toddlers.

Miss Lansdale said: "We felt very lucky that she got the heart so quickly. There is a shortage of organs, particularly for small children.

"I think it's really important that people do talk about organ donation because you never know - you always assume that bad things like having a sick child never happen to you.

"When it does happen, it's not really the right time for people to be discussing issues like organ donation.

"I hope the people who donated the heart get some comfort from the fact that they saved her life."

Claudia's health began deteriorating rapidly last September, shortly after her first birthday. Miss Lansdale, a history teacher, noticed her daughter was lethargic and her breathing laboured.

More than two months later Claudia's parents learned that she had dilated cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease which can lead to severe heart failure.

Claudia was first taken to Guy's Hospital in London and then transferred to Great Ormond Street to be put on a ventilator but staff were blunt about her chances of survival.

Miss Lansdale said: "The sister on the ward at Guy's said, 'Do you want us to call a chaplain and get her a blessing before she goes?' It was horrible."

She did not take up the nurse's offer and was given fresh hope when Carin Van Doorn, an honorary consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at Great Ormond Street, told her about the Berlin Heart procedure.

They agreed it was worth trying and the operation to fit a Berlin Heart was carried out on November 1.

Miss Lansdale said: "I remember looking at her chest and thinking it was the last time I would see it without a big scar down it. But it was exciting because I felt it bought a bit more time."

She was on the Berlin Heart for nearly a month and made significant progress before a donor heart was found on November 27.

The successful transplant operation took place the next day.

Miss Lansdale said Claudia was still vulnerable and would have to take medication to stop her rejecting the donated organ for the rest of her life.

But she added that her time in hospital had, if anything, made her even more good-natured.

She said: "She's happy and smiling, and she is also very loving. She loves to cuddle and pat and kiss her dolls. She's very sweet and gentle."