TWO Oxfordshire families whose newest additions arrived on the NHS 70th birthday, have thanked staff at the John Radcliffe Hospital’s Women’s Centre.

While hospital staff and patients marked the health service's major milestone on Thursday, a delighted Celia Stevens, 33, and Rich Massingham, 36, were welcoming their (as yet unnamed) first child into the world.

The baby boy was born at 10.35am weighing 6lb 12oz.

A delighted Miss Stevens said: “The hospital staff were amazing - the JR is fantastic.

Mr Massingham added: “It’s never going to be easy.

"It was stressful but the staff were incredible – think of all the people they have helped.”

Another newborn who will share a birthday with the NHS is the second child of Nicky Deacon, 33, and Luke Spurway, 39.

The boy (also as yet unnamed) was born at 11.28am at 6lb 12oz.

The beaming couple, from Souldern, near Bicester, said giving birth had been a ‘whirlwind’ but were full of praise for the NHS midwives and maternity unit.

They said: “The staff were brilliant.

"They were so friendly from first thing this morning.

"We have been looked after so well.”

The couple’s first child, two-year-old Millie, was born at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Ms Deacon, still trying to cool herself down with fan following a ‘quick and easy’ labour, said she was desperate to take the newest addition to the family home to be introduced to the rest of the family.

The Women’s Centre, part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is a referral unit for women with high-risk pregnancies providing special care for babies in Oxfordshire and across the Thames Valley.

Around 7,500 women give birth at the unit each year.