Grief and joy over dead wife's baby

The husband of an ice-skating coach who gave birth to a baby girl two days after she died from a brain haemorrhage today spoke of his grief and joy.

Jayne Soliman, 41, was declared brain-dead but doctors managed to keep her heart beating long enough to deliver her daughter, Aya Jayne, by caesarean section.

Mrs Soliman, a professional skater who had competed in international galas, was only 25 weeks pregnant when she collapsed in her bedroom, having gone to bed complaining of a headache.

She was airlifted to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford but was pronounced dead.

Doctors said the skater from Bracknell, Berkshire, had suffered from a haemorrhage caused by an aggressive tumour which had struck a major blood vessel.

Mrs Soliman was given large doses of steroids to help the child's lungs develop, and within 48 hours she gave birth to a baby girl weighing two pounds one-and-a-half ounces.

The tiny baby was placed on her shoulder for a brief moment before being handed to her husband Mahmoud Soliman, 29, who was at her bedside.

Her life support machine was then switched off.

Mr Soliman told the Daily Mail newspaper: "It was Jayne's one true wish to be a mum and she would have been a great mum.

"I can remember the first scan. We just hugged each other and kept crying when we saw the heartbeat. It was this tiny speck beating.

"We were so looking forward to the baby coming."

Aya Jayne, whose name is a word from the Koran meaning miracle, has been transferred to the intensive care unit at the Royal Berkshire Hospital where she is being closely monitored by doctors because of her small size.

Mr Soliman said when his daughter is old enough to understand he will tell her what a "lovely, lovely mum" she had, who would have loved her so much.

He told the paper: "I was the one who always used to tell Jayney, 'If I die, do this'.

"She used to say, 'Don't die and leave me', but last week she did leave me. She is my angel in paradise."

The funeral of Mrs Soliman, who had converted to Islam, took place this weekend at the Jamia Masjid mosque in Reading which was attended by over 300 people.

She was both British champion and number seven in the world for professional free skating in 1989.

The coach also taught in Abu Dhabi, where she met her husband, and was a former member of the Ice Dance and Figure Skating Club in Southampton.

She had been healthy throughout her pregnancy, and continued working as a coach at Bracknell Skating Club.

She had been on the ice last Wednesday before she suddenly collapsed later in her bedroom after complaining of a headache.

Doctors told her husband there was nothing they could do for her but were hopeful of saving their unborn baby.