Sarah Copeland, right, and her unborn daughter, who was operated on in the womb (Pictures: Sarah Copeland/SWNS)

An unborn baby has been seen kicking her legs in the womb after a rare operation to correct spina bifida was a success.

Sarah Copeland, 36, was told her daughter suffered the condition during a 20 week scan at Basildon Hospital. Without corrective surgery, the infant would have been born paralysed from the waist down.

Spina bifida, found in about six babies for every 10,000 born, occurs when the spine does not form fully, leaving a hole in the neural tube that surrounds the spinal cord. In the case of Ms Copeland’s daughter, this meant nerves had come through the gap, and were being damaged by exposure to spinal fluid.

However, surgery last month to correct the disorder at King’s College Hospital, London, appears to have been an almost complete success, with Ms Copeland and her partner Christian Rayner set to welcome the new arrival on July 22.

‘She’s my little miracle, and I’m so relieved the op went well,’ said Ms Copeland, a special educational needs teacher from Billericay, Essex. ‘We felt truly blessed to see her moving her legs. It was very overwhelming.

‘They scanned her straight away and she’s dancing around, happy as Larry. She’s using them fully, and the scar on her has healed already.’

Ms Copeland, mum to daughter Mylee, 11, has previously suffered three miscarriages.

Sarah, Christian and daughter Mylee (Picture: Sarah Copeland/SWNS)

‘It’s so lovely to be home and for my baby to be doing fine,’ she said.

‘I couldn’t fault the NHS and the hospital at all. The care and the cleanliness was outstanding.

‘I’ve not known care like that before. They were so friendly and supportive which made it as pleasant as it could be.’

Ms Copeland was 27 weeks pregnant at the time of the operation, which she said gave her baby a 90% chance of regaining movement in her lower body. Doctors made a cut like a C-section, before using keyhole surgery to go into the protective amniotic sac.

Sarah at an ultrasound with Christian (Picture: Sarah Copeland/SWNS)

From left, a fully formed spine, a spine with closed spina bifida, a spine with open spina bifida, resulting in nerve damage (Picture: UZ Leuven/gov.uk)

While the baby can now be seen moving her legs, scans have shown some nerve damage that may affect bladder and bowel function.

‘I’m just so glad that she can move, there will be so much more she’ll be able to do now than if I hadn’t had the op,’ said Ms Copeland.

‘She’s moving her legs fully, but we’re not sure yet if she’ll have the muscle tone to stand or walk, and if she does it will take her longer.

‘We’re getting the garden flattened so we can get a hot tub and she can have private therapy there.’

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Without the op she would have been paralysed from the waist down.