She had been told that she would not be able to conceive, so her pregnancy came to her like a miracle, one that she had vowed to protect, even if it meant her death.

Stacie Crimm, 41, of Ryan, Okla., was already pregnant when she learned that she had cancer. The diagnosis came to her when she sought a doctor's help for crippling headaches, tremors and double vision. She refused chemotherapy to save her baby's life, even after her doctor explained the risk she was taking.

In August, Stacie's tumour had grown around her brain stem, causing her to collapse one day at her home. This resulted in the weakening of her baby's heartbeat, and her own heart stopped 90 minutes later, SkyNews reported.

Doctors revived Crimm and delivered her daughter, Dottie Mae, by Caesarean section, four months early and weighing just 2 pounds, 1 ounce.

Stacie's brother Ray Phillips, who is now Dottie's guardian, told NewsOK Stacie initially saw only pictures of her tiny baby.

"We would show her pictures and she would cry and she would want to hold her baby... It was quite the ordeal. I felt helpless. I wanted to help her, I wanted to do what I could for her - we all did - but they had told us it was impossible for her to see the child."

However, nurses eventually managed to make elaborate arrangements for mother and daughter to meet face to face. Dottie was laid on her mother's chest and they stared into each other's eyes.

"Nobody said anything, it got real quiet... It was the perfect moment, that's what I called it," Phillips told NewsOK.

Crimm died three days after the "perfect moment."

Baby Dottie now weighs 5 pounds and has been allowed to leave hospital care and live with Phillips and his family.