A pregnant woman’s twin babies have been saved after she was shot in the head by a gunman attacking her husband in traffic.

Ana Carolina Alhende Aquino was killed on Christmas Eve in the municipality of Ponta Pora, on the border with Paraguay, located in the west-central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

She shared photos of her posing with her 36-week baby bump on social media the day before she was fatally shot in the head.

According to the news site G1, the victim was with her husband Gabriel de Abreu Silva in their car when another vehicle drew up alongside them and a gunman got out.

The gunman reportedly fired eight times as Gabriel accelerated towards him.

Gabriel, the alleged target of the attack, was wounded in the arm while his wife, who was eight months pregnant with twins, sustained a bullet to the head.

The police said she was still alive when she was taken to the Hospital Regional de Ponta Pora.

Doctors performed emergency surgery on the pregnant woman and managed to save her twin daughters, who were born at 36 weeks, according to the news portal G1.

The hospital said the newborn girls are both healthy and not in any danger.

However, their mother was unable to resist her injuries and died in hospital.

The victim leaves behind two other children, a boy and a girl aged 11 and 7.

Her husband is still being treated for his arm injury and is not at risk of death.

The police investigation, including into Gabriel’s activities, the suspected target of the gun attack, is ongoing.