'I said they had to be joking - I had a seven-week-old baby. I thought I was going to die'

A mum who says cancer ‘stole’ her first-time mum experience has revealed the moment she was diagnosed – just seven weeks after giving birth.

Keisha Chadwick was nine months pregnant when she felt a lump on her breast while trying to encourage her breast milk supply.

The 31-year-old, from Manchester, thought nothing of the discovery and welcomed her baby girl, Miliana-Mae, in June 2021.

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But shortly after giving birth, the new mum noticed her milk would dry up quickly and the lump near her left armpit had grown.

Keisha, who was 28 at the time, decided to contact her GP who referred her to a breast clinic. The medic reassured her the lump was probably just a blocked milk duct.

But tragically, Keisha’s test results showed she had breast cancer. Her baby daughter was just seven-weeks-old when she received her diagnosis.

“The results came back and it was just devastating,” Keisha said. “I had breast cancer at 28.

“I said they had to be joking – I had a seven-week-old daughter. I thought I was going to die; it was just a nightmare scenario. It never occurred to me that I could get breast cancer while pregnant.”

Keisha had her eggs frozen and underwent 18 weeks of gruelling chemotherapy before having a mastectomy, an operation to remove a breast.

The following year, she had a preventative mastectomy on her right breast and further radiotherapy before being told she had no evidence of disease in March 2022.

"Breast cancer stole my first-time mum experience,” the mum added. “It stopped me qualifying as a nurse and it's given me extremely bad health anxiety.

“Every day is a worry, but I make the most of life, being a mum and continuing with