Lily Allen will always see herself as a mother first, say sources.

The Sheezus singer recently opened up about the terrifying battle her eldest daughter Ethel, two, faced against a disease called laryngomalacia. It left the youngster fighting for her life and she had to be fed through a tube.

Tragically, Lily and husband Sam Cooper had to endure the stillbirth of their first child, a son, in 2011 before Ethel and Marnie, now 18 months, were conceived.

"She's a mother first and foremost, and is fully aware of how lucky she is to have Ethel back to full health and Marnie so well. She's only just able to talk about it - it took some time for her to get her head around what was the worst tie of her life," an insider revealed to British magazine Grazia.

"With Ethel being fed by a tube over three months, Lily was housebound, unable even to take the pram out, and friends rallied round. She was only pictured out once with a large pram - purely because Ethel needed all her medical equipment and feeding tube inside it. Lily rarely left Ethel's side. She found it incredibly hard and was in hospital a lot."

During the time, 29-year-old Lily also reportedly made the decision to help other mothers who were struggling, and donated her frozen breast milk to the local hospital for premature babies and mothers who were not able to breast feed.

While she recently headed to the UK's Glastonbury Festival, where she played a set to tens of thousands of adoring fans, some have criticised Lily's love of partying.

"Now, people may be thinking Lily is partying a lot more than she should, but family really comes first. She plans her career around the children and Sam. Having been so close to losing another child, she's appreciating every single day with her girls and is involved in a her local community with kids' groups," the source added.