image captionHelena named her daugher Mila - short for milagro, or miracle, in Spanish

"It comes with risks, but then this operation will mean I've done the best for her. In my mind there was no choice - I just had to do it."

After six failed rounds of IVF, Helena had almost given up hope of having a second baby. But on her seventh attempt she became pregnant and things seemed to progress well until her 20-week scan.

There, Helena was told her daughter had spina bifida.