NURSERY practitioner Hayleigh Neal was stunned when her baby daughter was born in her amniotic sac - a one in 80,000 chance.

The rare occurrence happened at the John Radcliffe Hospital last month when Ms Neal, 25, gave birth to Dulcie, a sister for her first daughter Daisy, three.

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The amniotic sac is filled with fluid that cushions the baby in the womb, and helps the lungs, digestive system and musculoskeletal system.

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After the baby is born the doctor manually breaks the sac and there are no side effects.

Recalling the unusual birth on June 15, Ms Neal, who lives in Abingdon with her partner Bradley Dixon, a drainage engineer, said: “I didn’t actually see it because of the position I was in but I saw Bradley smiling and the midwife and he said ‘she’s in her waters’.

Oxford Mail:

“It all happened very quickly and then they put Dulcie straight onto me - she’s doing very well.

“After it happened the midwife googled it and we found out how rare it was.

“People keep asking me if we took any pictures but unfortunately none were taken.

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“Only one in 80,000 babies are born in their entire amniotic sac and my Dulcie was one of them.”

Ms Neal praised the midwives at the Oxford hospital and said: “Honestly no words can describe their care for myself, my partner and our new arrival.

“Dulcie came into the world 11 days late just like her big sister Daisy, it’s now our favourite number.”

Ms Neal said she had been anxious about giving birth for a second time because of the length of time it took her to recover after the birth of her first daughter.

She added: “I had anxiety about giving birth the second time round because of my recovery the first time.

“Staff on the Spires ward took the best care of me, examined, tested me for Covid-19 and then took me straight into a delivery room in which my partner was able to enter the building.

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“He wore a mask the whole time and the staff were not only asking to me but to him as well.

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“The midwife had never delivered a baby like that before so she was very chuffed.”

The amniotic sac is harmless and is immediately removed by the physician or midwife once the baby has been delivered.

During labour the sac should burst and drain out - what is known as your waters breaking.

But in about one in every 80,000 cases that doesn’t happen and the special births occur, which do not put the mother or baby at risk.

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Ms Neal added: “Everyone has been asking for pictures but no one took any at the time and I didn’t see anything because I delivered the baby in a weird position on my side because that felt the most comfortable at the time.

“We are just glad that everything went okay and Dulcie is now doing so well.”

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Dulcie was a healthy 9lb 1oz when she was born.

Ms Neal added: “Thank you so much to all the staff at the JR who are putting their life’s at risk each day.

“Now I’m a mother of two at home with my beautiful girls - because of them.”