A Lincolnshire mum said her midwife's quick thinking saved the life of her baby daughter.

Little Trinity Kennedy was rushed to Lincoln County Hospital by ambulance within half an hour of being born at home.

And a second blue light journey just 14 hours later to Leicester's Glenfield Hospital resulted in lifesaving seven-and-a-half hour open heart surgery.

Mum-of-two Jo Kennedy (39) says she cannot thank her community midwife Frances Franklin enough for detecting the warning signs of Trinity's heart defect.

It emerged that little Trinity, who weighed just 5lbs 12ozs, suffered from two heart conditions –

Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage (TAPVD) – and a hole in the heart.

The TAPVD saw a pulmonary vein in the left side of Trinity's heart being blocked, preventing the oxygen flow around her tiny body.

"We were told she had to have the surgery there and then otherwise she'd die in the night," said Mrs Kennedy, of Spennymoor Close, North Hykeham.

"We cannot thank Frances enough for what she did for us.

"She noticed that Trinity's lips were slightly blue and decided to get her checked out at hospital."

Mrs Kennedy has voted for Mrs Franklin to be awarded the title of Lincoln's Midwife of the Year 2009.

Parents of babies born between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009 are eligible to vote their midwife for the awards.

Nominees can work in the community or in the ante-natal clinic, labour ward or post-natal ward at Lincoln County Hospital.

Voting forms can be found in GP surgeries, at Lincoln County Hospital's maternity unit and online.

For more about Midwife of the Year 2009, see Tuesday's Echo.