LOOKING at baby Faith today, you would never guess there is anything unusual about her.

Only a scar on the eight-month-old’s stomach hints at her recovery from a 1-in-7,000 medical condition which saw her born with her bladder and bowel outside her body.

Faith spent the first two months of her life in hospital and underwent six operations to deal with the condition.

Her parents, Lisa and Jason Ursell, of Connaught Avenue, Frinton, were devastated when their unborn baby was diagnosed with gastroschisis at a 12-week scan at Clacton Hospital.

Mrs Ursell, 25, had to travel to London to give birth in University College Hospital, just five minutes away from Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, so her baby could be put straight into intensive care.

She said: “As soon as I gave birth, she was taken straight away. I only got to hold her for about ten seconds.”

Mrs Ursell spent two months at her baby’s side in London, while her husband travelled up and down between the hospital and the couple’s two older children, Ryan, seven, and Abbie, five, at home in Frinton.

Doctors had to work to push Faith’s organs back into her body, bit by bit. When they finally succeeded, the pressure it placed on her lungs was so intense, it put her in a critical condition.

Mrs Ursell said: “I felt useless – there was nothing I could do apart from watch her fight.

“Her stomach just looked like bumps because it was all trying to find its way in.

“It sounds silly, but we prayed for the first time she went for a poo, because we knew it was all working.”

Coincidentally, there were three other mothers from the area who had babies at the hospital with the same condition.

Mrs Ursell compared experiences with Michelle Pangidzwa, of King Stephen Road, Colchester, whose son, Noah was also suffering from the condition, as was a third child called Alfie, from Kirby.

Mrs Ursell said the support of talking to the other mothers was a huge help.

She added: “When we were pregnant, we could talk to the doctors, but they can only give it to you in book speak.”

Faith has now recovered well, and is leading a normal life, though she will have to have regular check-ups for the next five years.

The two other babies, Noah, now aged nine months and Alfie, are also well.

Mrs Ursell and Noah’s mother, Michelle, are hoping to set up a support group for other parents who children are diagnosed with gastroschisis.

“We just feel there is nothing out there,” said Mrs Ursell.

“You do think you are the only one who has been through it.

“What I found horrible was that people kept looking at her like she was not a normal baby.

“It is easier to talk to someone who has actually been through it and is now out the other side.”

If you would like to be part of the gastroschisis support group, you can contact Mrs Ursell at lisaursell@hotmail.co.uk