UK chancellor's baby dies

The UK finance minister and his wife had maintained a vigil at their daughter's bedside

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- The 10-day-old daughter of UK treasury chief Gordon Brown has died in the hospital where she was being treated for a brain haemorrhage.

Jennifer Jane Brown "died peacefully in her parents arms," hospital officials said on Monday.

The 10-day old baby was the first child for the Scottish 50-year-old Chancellor of the Exchequer and his 37-year-old wife, Sarah.

She had been delivered seven weeks prematurely on December 28 by Caesarean section after complications developed in the pregnancy.

The Browns had remained by side of their daughter, who had weighed just 2 pounds 4 ounces (1.02 kilograms) at birth.

"At 5.20pm Jennifer Jane died peacefully in her parents' arms," a spokesman for Edinburgh Royal Infirmary said.

Despite her tiny size, Jennifer initially impressed doctors with her progress. She suffered a brain haemorrhage on Friday.

Jennifer had been under specialist care at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after being transferred on Friday from a hospital in Kirkcaldy, on Scotland's eastern coast.

Downing Street spokesman said Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is in Afghanistan, had been informed of Jennifer Jane's death and was expected to make a statement.

Nigel Griffiths, a minister at the UK Department of Trade and Industry and a close friend of Brown said: "This is a terrible tragedy and all Gordon and Sarah's friends are deeply upset. They are in our thoughts and prayers."

Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell said: "This is heartbreaking news. Baby Jennifer may have only known her parents for only a short time but she will have changed their lives forever."

Earlier on Monday Blair said he was praying for his colleague's baby to pull through.

"All their thoughts and prayers are with Gordon, Sarah and baby Jennifer," the prime minister's official spokesman told the Press Association.

Brown was overjoyed at Jennifer's birth.

"I've probably waited longer than most people to be a father and it's just a superb feeling," he said after the birth. "I know every father says his baby daughter is the most beautiful in the world, but she is."