A baby medics thought may never survive has celebrated his first birthday.

Hospital staff dubbed Joshua Abraham a "miracle" after he survived a rare and often fatal birth complication.

A year later and Joshua is thriving despite health problems which are a legacy of his premature and difficult birth.

"He is crawling, sitting up and eating well. He is absolutely brilliant," said mum Maria Abraham, 39, of Skipton Road, Ilkley.

Mrs Abraham discovered when she was 34 weeks pregnant her baby's umbilical cord had dropped through the birth canal and prolapsed.

Although an ambulance was called immediately and doctors performed an emergency Caesarean section when Mrs Abraham got to Airedale Hospital, Steeton, near Keighley, Joshua was not expected to survive.

Prolapsed cords are usually constricted by the baby's passage down the birth canal which interrupts the oxygen and blood supply.

The child is usually expected to survive no longer than 20 minutes. Those that do survive also have a high risk of cerebral palsy because of a lack of oxygen to the brain.

Mrs Abraham only realised how lucky Joshua had been when she spoke to hospital staff later. She said: "They called him a miracle baby and said they had never had a baby survive for nearly one and a half hours with a prolapsed cord before.

"He has had breathing problems, which were caused by him being premature. He has been back to hospital and now is waiting for a double hernia operation. It is quite common. I think it is caused by coughing he has been doing. We are waiting for it to be done at Leeds General Infirmary.

"He coughs when he cries and his chest has to be kept clear all the time but his development has been the same as a full-term baby."

Mrs Abraham said the family had just returned from a holiday in Jamaica where Joshua visited his grandparents.

"We have just come back - his health improved because of the good weather," she said.

To celebrate the birthday, Joshua had a party at Ilkley's Escape Bar, together with his godparents and mothers of other babies born at the same time. He will be Christened at Ilkley's All Saints Church in March.

Mrs Abraham has kept in touch with ambulance staff who helped her maintain the correct position to keep Joshua alive during the agonisingly slow drive to hospital.

"They told me to get on my hands and knees and to stick my bottom in the air. I had to crawl on a stretcher like that," she said.