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Defying the odds to reach 1st birthday

Demi Bloomfield is celebrating her first birthday Credit: ITV News Anglia

A premature baby from Essex has defied the odds to celebrate her first birthday today.

Demi Bloomfield from Chelmsford was given a slim chance of survival, after being born three and a half months early. She weighed just 1 pound 6 ounces, that's an equivalent of half a bag of sugar.

Demi was born three and a half months premature Credit: ITV News Anglia

Her parents Anna Williams and Carl Bloomfield say it was like a dream when they were able to bring Demi home after nearly 4 months in hospital.

She still needs ongoing checks and has only been breathing without an oxygen mask for the past 3 weeks.

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Broomfield Hospital failing to meet standards

Broomfield Hospital
Broomfield Hospital Credit: ITV News Anglia

A health watchdog says Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford must make urgent improvements to protect patients' safety and welfare.

A snap inspection by the Care Quality Commission in February found the Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust was not meeting standards.

Records were not being kept properly and some medicines were not safely stored. The trust says it's disappointed in the findings. It points out that no patients were harmed.

Thousands need measles jab in East of England

A major campaign has started to ensure children are vaccinated against measles as figures show the number of cases in the Anglia region is on the rise.

In the first three months of 2013, 42 cases were reported in the East and East Midlands, nearly half the total number of cases for the whole of 2012.

Health officials are highlighting the need for vaccinations to prevent epidemics like the one in Swansea.

Click below to watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Elodie Harper:

Q&A: What is measles and how is it treated?

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Fears of rise in measles cases in Anglia region

Measles cases in the East of England and the East Midlands since 1996 Credit: Public Health England / ITV Anglia

Around a million children are to be targeted in a national catch-up vaccination campaign aimed at curbing a rise in measles cases in England. The East of England has so far seen a relatively small number of measles cases in 2013 at 29 but in the whole of 2012 there were only 49 cases.

In recent years, the number of measles cases in the East of England peaked in 2007 with 159 before falling back. The average number of cases in the decade starting in 1996 was only 14 cases per year.

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