QUICK-thinking Victoria Adams rushed baby Brooklyn to hospital as soon as she spotted he had a hernia problem - which could have turned deadly. Posh Spice discovered a lump on Brooklyn's tummy while changing his nappy. She and fiance David Beckham realised something was wrong because the seven-week-old tot had been crying with pain for several days. Brooklyn will have an operation to remove the hernia at a top private clinic on Tuesday. The op itself is fairly straight-forward but medical experts said that if Posh and Beckham had not been so vigilant, the consequences could have been very serious. TV doctor Rosemary Leonard said last night: "If the hernia had got twisted inside it would have become a medical emergency. "But the operation now is routine. It only takes about half an hour and is a simple case of pushing the bowel back into the right place and repairing the weaknesses." Friends say Posh, 25, and Beckham, 23, have been worried about Brooklyn for some time because he has been having violent coughing fits. Doctors believe that the strain of the coughing has put considerable strain on his tummy, leading to the development of the hernia. One friend said last night: "It has been a very worrying time for them. Brooklyn has been in pain which is very distressing for them as they are such loving parents. "They are pleased the surgery will sort him out but will be much happier once the op is over and he is back at home." The doting parents will both be at Brooklyn's bedside following the operation at the Portland hospital in London where he was born. Beckham asked to be left out of the England squad for the Hungary game on Wednesday night and Posh has cancelled a trip to New York for a wedding dress fitting. The couple have barely been able to hide their anguish about Brooklyn in the past few weeks. His coughing fits have given them a succession of extremely difficult and sleepless nights. Posh looked close to tears when she was snapped arriving at London's posh Ivy restaurant recently. But the couple only told close family and friends about the problem. Most worrying of all was the fact that he had begun whimpering and looking increasingly distressed. A close pal of Beckham's said yesterday: "There has been no disguising the fact that the two of them have been beside themselves with worry lately. "It came as a massive relief to them when the doctor reassured them that the problem wasn't an unusual one. "In the past week they have been smothering Brooklyn with love, kisses and cuddles because they feel so sorry for him. "They both wish they could take his place so that he didn't have to go through an operation at such a young age." The op will be done under a general anaesthetic - but Posh and Beckham have been told it is quite safe even in a baby so small. They have also been told that Brooklyn will be left with a small scar. Despite reassurances over the operation, Posh and Beckham have been unable to forget the drama that surrounded Brooklyn's birth last month. As exclusively revealed by the Sunday People, he had to be delivered by Caesarean section after a frantic last-minute drama. The close pal said: "After the difficulties with the birth, they worry about Brooklyn all the time. "They've both put all their other commitments firmly on the back-burner until he is well. "With England's game against Hungary this week only being a friendly David asked if he could be left out of the squad. "Victoria will simply go to New York once she is satisfied Brooklyn is out of the woods." Proud dad Beckham has become so devoted to his son that he has had Brooklyn's name tattooed on his back. He underwent a painful four-hour session to have the word engraved in Old English style script on his body. He told a pal: "I've had the tattoo done to show Brooklyn how much I love him. It's a personal thing, and nothing to do with fashion." The op drama is the latest in a long line of Sunday People Spice Girl exclusives. We were the first paper to tell you Posh was expecting a boy and he would be called Brooklyn.

WHAT BABY'S OP IS ABOUT