A young mother is fighting for her life in a UK hospital after contracting swine flu.

Leanne Gunnell, 21, suffered brain damage when doctors put her in a coma to save her unborn child.

Faith was delivered by Caesarean at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital weighing just 3lb.

While she makes good progress and will be sent home in a few weeks, her grandparents fear her mother will never recover and they may have to switch off her life-support machine.

Simon and Sharon Gunnell, of Robinswood, Gloucester, want to know why their daughter was never offered a swine flu jab despite being pregnant.

Mrs Gunnell, 43, a hotel housekeeper, said: “She was a fit and healthy young girl.

“She was pregnant and she was not offered a swine flu jab - that’s the most annoying thing.”

Her husband, 44, a Royal Mail delivery driver, added: “I am not faulting the GP service but something went wrong.”

At the end of November, the six-and-a-half-month pregnant hotel receptionist has been complaining of being ill for several days with a cold.

She went to her local doctor’s surgery in Matson, was told she had a virus and given antibiotics. She was not tested for swine flu.

Four days later when Miss Gunnell was still unwell her parents took her to see the out of hours GP service and a doctor repeated the same diagnosis.

But the next day she was rushed to hospital by ambulance coughing up blood amid fears she had pneumonia.

Doctors at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital discovered her lungs had been so seriously damaged there was little chance of both her and the baby surviving because she was taking in insufficient oxygen.

They said the best chance was to put Miss Gunnell into a coma and deliver the baby at 28 weeks.

After the birth on November 30 both mum and baby, who Ms Gunnell had already named Faith, seemed to cope well and hopes rose that they would pull through.

But days later Mr and Mrs Gunnell were told their daughter had tested positive for swine flu and preliminary tests suggested she had suffered brain damage.

“Leanne did pick up but then she suffered two heart attacks,” Mr Gunnell said.

“At first we never left her bedside and the nurses had to tell us to go home because we were physical wrecks.

“Unfortunately Leanne took another turn for the worse.”

Mr and Mrs Gunnell described the treatment their daughter and granddaughter had been receiving at the hospital as first class.

Seven weeks after giving birth, the 21-year-old has still not come out of the coma and her parents are awaiting further tests for brain damage.

If their worst fears are realised they will have to decide whether to turn off her life support.

Dr Mike Roberts, acting medical director for NHS Gloucestershire, said: “We are very sorry that the patient concerned remains very poorly.

“We take the health and well-being of our population very seriously and we would encourage the family members concerned to make contact with us so we can look into their concerns.

“It is important to stress that a patient’s symptoms can change and develop from day to day and so we would want to review in detail what happened on this occasion.”