NAMED after an iconic princess and film actress, Kingswinford newborn Grace Kelly can expect to garner attention wherever she goes thanks to her famous moniker.

But Laura Haynes' and Rob Kelly's first born will no doubt be remembered by midwives for an entirely different reason.

Weighing 7lb 13oz, the youngster was born at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley still in her amniotic sac in a feat of nature which reportedly occurs in less than one in 80,000 births.

The sac usually breaks earlier during labour but in caul or veiled births, as they are known, it remains intact - covering and giving an alien-like appearance to the baby inside.

Proud dad Rob Kelly said the sac was "completely intact" as little Grace made her entrance and had to be cut away - and he told the News: "The midwives at Russell Hall had never seen this type of birth and were amazed by it."

Shocked mum Laura, who gave birth naturally, added: "I didn't know it was possible for babies to born in this way."

Being born in the caul - which means helmeted head or veil - was historically considered good luck and a sign a child was destined for greatness.

Famous names from history - Napoleon, Liberace, Lord Byron, Sigmund Freud and Alexander the Great - were all said to have been caul babies, known as caulbearers.

And actress Jessica Alba's daughter Haven was reportedly born inside the amniotic sac in 2011.

A host of other strange superstitions surround the phenomenon.

Babies born in the caul were traditionally thought to be protected from drowning and amniotic membranes were in the past prized by sailors who used them as a talisman to protect them from drowning.

Folklore has also linked the caul to fertility and it has been said to protect a person from the forces of evil.

Laura and Rob from Francis Close, who are engaged and both aged 26, say they decided to name their daughter after the late Princess Grace of Monaco as they liked the sound of the legendary name but they never imagined their little one's arrival in the world on November 25 would also be remarkable.

Paula Clark, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We would like to congratulate Rob and Laura on the birth of their daughter Grace."

She said caul births were "perfectly safe and more common in natural births without any intervention" and she added: "Births like this are quite unusual."