A miracle baby who received lifesaving spinal surgery in the womb is living proof that “spina bifida doesn’t mean their life will be over.”

Bethan Simpson’s daughter, Elouise was diagnosed with the condition following her routine 20-week scan.

Mrs Simpson a 26-year-old nurse from Burnham and husband, Kieron were told the first option was to terminate the pregnancy.

After undergoing life changing fetal repair surgery, Bethan was overwhelmed with happiness when her baby girl was born at University College London Hospital (UCLH) at 10am at April 1.

Mrs Simpson said: “It was amazing to finally meet her and see the effect of the surgery.

“It was an overwhelming time of happiness but also nerves.

“Things were positive scan wise on Elouise leading up to her birth, but that wasn’t a given for when she was born.”

Spina Bifida, which literally means ‘split spine’ is a condition where a baby’s spinal cord does not fully develop in the womb.

The condition happens in around four in every 10,000 pregnancies.

The Simpsons were given support by some of the best surgeons “around the world” including from UCLH, Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) and some that flew across the pond from Belgium to tackle the fetal repair procedure.

The surgery was funded by a charitable trust set up by Gosh and UCLH.

Mrs Simpson was only the fourth mother in the UK to receive that treatment.

She said her and her husband wanted the surgery the moment the option was given to them.

She said: “We only had worries and doubt before the surgery was offered because we were given such a bleak outcome.

“Once they offered surgery we had no doubts about what we would do for her.”

Following the surgery, Mrs Simpson and the baby made a perfect recovery, ready for the birth.

The family were warned the birth was not going to be straightforward, but thankfully Elouise was out of hospital just a week after she was born.

She is currently on antibiotics, which Mrs Simpson says is just a precaution.

Doctors are confident that the effect of the spina bifida on Elouise will be “minimal”.

Mrs Simpson was happy she had taken the decision to undergo the surgery which has given her daughter the best chance of living a normal and healthy life.

Despite it being a scary idea, she encouraged any mothers who find themselves in her situation to take the offer of treatment.

Mrs Simpson said: “For any mum who has a baby that is diagnosed with spina bifida in the 20-week scan, I think they should consider asking about fetal surgery.

“It’s worth considering, even if it’s not going to be an option for you.

“People need to be aware that even without surgery, for people with spina bifida, it doesn’t mean their life will be over.

“There’s different levels of spina bifida.

“It doesn’t define the person.”