A YATE baby with spina bifida, who underwent a pioneering operation before birth, is now out of intensive care and enjoying life with her parents.

Piper Kelly was born on July 28 following surgery while she was still in the womb.

Piper’s parents, Georgia Axford, 19, and Tyler Kelly, 21, of Yate, found out that their baby had spina bifida at a routine 20-week scan and, after initially being advised to have an abortion the couple opted instead for the ground-breaking surgery.

However, the specific treatment was unavailable in the UK and not funded by the NHS, so Georgia and Tyler had to take out a loan of £9,000 to pay for the ground-breaking procedure in Germany, travelling to the University Hospital Gießen, where baby Piper had her operation on June 13.

Spina bifida is when a baby’s spinal cord doesn’t develop properly in the womb, and the new surgery in Germany worked by closing the gap in the spine.

For both mother and baby, the surgery came with several risks but all went well for the couple and Piper.

Georgia, who was also born early at 27 weeks, has revealed how pleased her and Tyler are that they ignored advice and travelled to Germany for the surgery.

“She is doing really well,” she said when speaking about Piper.

“It is beautiful to see her little smile, she is a well behaved little baby and the doctors hope that the operation will help in the years to come.

“We just can’t describe how grateful we are that people came together. When there is a crisis it was nice to see so many people support us.

“About a year ago we knew nothing about it, then because of the support we knew about the procedure.

“We got messages from all over England and we would advise any of those people that find themselves in the same situation to look at the procedure.

The doctor that performed the operation was called Dr Thomas Kohl, he called Georgia after the birth to see how Piper was getting on.

Tyler, Piper’s father, revealed that although the operation was expensive he would instantly make the same decision in the situation.

“Piper is living her life and the doctors have said that her legs do work,” he said.

“We know there will be issues down the line but we will have to deal with them when they come.”

The couple explained that they were keen to give an update on Piper after the pair received incredible support from the community earlier this year.

They also revealed they want to raise awareness about the procedure as it is not widely known.

“I would recommend it to everyone,” Tyler continued.

“It came at a time when we had a lot of stress so we want to help raise awareness of the fact that the diagnosis isn’t the end of the line.

“We just want to say a massive thank you to all those who have supported us, you have changed our life and also our daughter’s.

“It has not been easy but we feel much more positive about the future.”