A baby born with a football-sized cyst on her neck is finally going home after a team of 40 doctors removed the growth from her neck in a gruelling operation.

Parents feared the worst when little Bella-Rose Burress was delivered with a growth that was twice the size of her own head.

But the one-week-old child has made a full recovery after the meticulous operation in Chicago, Illinois, was successful on August 27.

Doctors diagnosed Bella-Rose with cystic hygroma – a collection of fluid-filled sacs – at Ms Pilarski’s 20-week scan.

At that time the growth measured 6cm but more than doubled to 13cm by the time she was born.