A baby born at Mayday Hospital was saved by a potentially fatal heart defect.

Charlotte Litchfield was born with a rare condition that prevented her body getting enough oxygen, which could have killed her within hours of birth She was also born with a hole in her heart, which could have killed her by stopping blood flow, but instead saved her life.

The hole allowed oxygenated blood to leak into her main arteries, meaning she was able to live.

Doctors at Mayday’s maternity ward described the birth as a “miracle”.

Charlotte’s mum Katie said: “To think we could have lost her through a heart condition is frightening.

“But then to think another defect actually saved her is remarkable.

“She is one in a million and we feel very lucky to have her here with us.”

Katie, 30, and her husband Nick discovered they were to be first-time parents last year and initial scans revealed no problems during the nine-month pregnancy.

Charlotte was born weighing 7lb 9oz at Mayday, but it was not long before she developed difficulties.

An emergency scan showed the aorta and pulmonary artery, the main blood vessels leading to the heart, had been reversed in Charlotte’s chest.

The rare condition, called the transposition of the great arteries, means oxygen-rich blood from the lungs cannot get into the aorta, which feeds the rest of the body.

It should have killed Charlotte by starving her of oxygenated blood.

The scan also revealed a large hole in the wall separating the heart’s two ventricles.

But instead of posing an additional risk to Charlotte, the hole helped save her by letting blood oxygenated by her lungs leak into her aorta.

Doctors at Mayday spotted the condition straight away and Charlotte was transferred to Evelina Children’s Hospital, London, for a high-risk six-hour operation to switch the arteries so her blood could flow properly.

She has just celebrated her first birthday, having been given a clean bill of health after the successful operation.

Mrs Litchfield said: “She’s doing so well now and has an enormous appetite, just like any other normal baby.

“The hole kept her alive long enough for her to have her operation and we will always be thankful for that.

“One day when she’s old enough we will tell her how lucky she was to have had a hole in her heart.”