This week (12th to 18th June) is Cancer & Pregnancy Awareness Week, and today’s blog has been written by Pete Wallroth, Founder and CEO of Mummy’s Star.
Why are we blogging about cancer and pregnancy?
Good question! Because it’s not talked about enough – so we’re going to more!
It’s Cancer & Pregnancy Awareness Week! This is the fourth time it has run, and this year there is something very significant happening during the week. After two years working closely together, we are celebrating the launch of a new booklet produced by Macmillan and Mummy’s Star. It provides information, guidance and support for those women out there who sadly receive a diagnosis of any type of cancer either in pregnancy or within 12 months post birth. A rare occurrence, but an incredibly challenging situation for families nonetheless.
We formed Mummy’s Star four years ago, following tragic personal experience, in order to bring more support to these families and raise awareness of cancer and pregnancy. Up to that point there was little public awareness of this area. To date, we have supported over 350 families across the UK and Ireland, many of whom have been directly referred to us for additional support by Macmillan staff – whether they be nurses, information centre staff or via the information team who have created this wonderful new resource with our help.
So what’s the point of this, or any, awareness week?
Well, it’s to bring focus to a specific situation. In our case, we don’t focus on a particular cancer as such, but rather the circumstances in which the diagnosis happens. And we need to draw attention to it. There are so many people out there who simply do not know that it is even possible to have cancer while pregnant, let alone that you can actually be treated for it in pregnancy. Many people, both medical professionals and public, often and easily mistake some symptoms as just being part of the pregnancy. For example changes in breast size, shape and texture, or vaginal bleeding or stomach pains and cramps. Thankfully, most of these signs usually don’t turn out to be cancer. However, all symptoms should, and need to be, investigated.
We hope that the awareness week and this new booklet, hand in hand, will help achieve:
Please show your stars this week and support #CancerandPregnancy Awareness Week
To see what else Macmillan's cancer information team has been blogging about, please visit our blog home page! You can subscribe to receive our blogs by email or RSS too.
We're with you every step of the way
The Macmillan team is here to help. Our cancer support specialists can answer your questions, offer support, or simply listen if you need a chat. Call us free on 0808 808 00 00.
Comments? Feel free to add them below (you need to be logged in).
Keep in touch Follow Macmillan’s cancer information team on Twitter @mac_cancerinfo
