IT WAS the most anticipated of births and as the seconds ticked towards midnight on July 4, 1948, Edna May Rees was urged not to push, but to hold on.

It wasn't easy but she did hold on and Aneira Thomas made her entrance at Amman Valley Hospital, Glanaman, at one minute past midnight on July 5, 1948.

There was a very valid reason why Edna waited, because on that day 63 years ago, the National Health Service was launched and Edna had given birth to Britain's first NHS baby.

Of course, there was only ever one choice of name; Aneira - Nye to friends and family - was to be named after Welsh politician, Aneurin Bevan, the father of the NHS.

'Growing up I never really knew the significance of my birth or name,' explains Aneira.

'For as long as I could remember I was introduced as the first NHS baby but it wasnt 'till I was in secondary school did I realise how important my birth had been.'

Since then the circumstances of her birth have led Aneira to take great interest in the NHS.

She is a fierce defender of it and hospitals in general have played a huge role in her life.

Both her mother and father, Will, spent time working in hospitals, her four sisters were nurses and Aneira herself worked as a mental health nurse.

Aneira grew up in Cefneithin with her parents, four sisters and two brothers. It was the tales of her grandparents that first made her realise the importance of the NHS.

'My mother told me that when she was small her father broke his leg in a mining accident,' she explains.

'The doctor was called and my mother and her siblings had to hold their father down while he was operated on without anaesthesia. Then they had to sell the piano to pay the bill.

'My mother's mother died young and in pain and my father's mother died in childbirth and its stories like that that make you realise how vital the NHS is.'

Aneira, too, experienced incidents in her own life which would demonstrate the impact of the NHS. From the birth of her two children, Kevin, 42, and Lyndsay, 37, and those of her six grandchildren to the death of her husband Dennis at just 61 years of age.

Her son's life was saved four years ago after Kevin visited hospital complaining of severe headaches.

'He had a brain haemorrhage,' says Aneira. 'He was taken to Heath Hospital Cardiff where they operated and saved his life. My granddaughter Caitlin was born premature and I myself have had two severe allergic reactions.

'Of course I've seen there are problems. When Dennis had a stroke, he failed to recover and seemed to be getting worse. Doctors treated him for depression, but it was cancer. By the time it was discovered, he had just two weeks left.

'And a human error meant we had no help during those final days at home as his details were never passed on.'

These events have fuelled Aneira's passion for the NHS and in recent years, she has been given the opportunity to pass that inspiration on to others.

'I was invited to Downing Street to meet with Gordon Brown, during the 60th anniversary of the NHS. Later I was asked to make a speech at the Labour Party conference.

'I was so proud to do it. I am a staunch Labour supporter and having that opportunity to talk to people about my opinions and thoughts was an exciting time.'

Recently Aneira was asked to debate with a White House aide on a live news show about the plans for an American NHS and she has just finished filming a BBC documentary with Melvyn Bragg.

'I've had some wonderful experiences through this and have met some truly wonderful people too, people who have dedicated themselves to the NHS,' says Aneira, who now lives in Loughor.

However, it is the future of her beloved health service that now concerns her.

The thought of cuts and privatisation of some services worry her and the thought of GPs being handed budgets is 'terrifying', she says.

'I know that it isn't a bottomless pit. Change is needed, but it has to be done through listening to workers and done in such a way that vital services are protected. And any changes have to be accepted by the people.

'I'll always defend it and can't praise it enough,' she says. 'I get annoyed when people criticise it. They take it for granted when it is the envy of the world. Imagine having to pay, having to check your purse before you dial 999?'

Aneira has a lot planned for the future, including a book about her life, but a chance encounter with Samantha Cameron has given her another item for her 'to do' list.

'I want to meet with David Cameron,' she explains. 'Last year I was in Kensington when I said hello to a woman passing me in the street.

'We got talking and I realised it was Mrs Cameron. I introduced myself and she said she had heard of me.

'She told me if her last baby had been a boy she would have called him Nye, which surprised me and then she said she'd tell her husband she had met me.

'I hope she did and one day he'll meet with me.

'I'd tell him too many MPs are millionaires and can't understand how vital free health is. I'd tell him there are too many managers and to start listening and talking to the people.

'The NHS is too important to risk.'