A mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer when her daughter was just months old has said she spent her maternity leave fighting for her life instead of bonding with her newborn.
Anna Priest, 41, noticed a lump at the start of 2024 while she was breastfeeding her youngest child Ivy, who was four months at the time but is now two. However, she said she had to wait until Ivy started to wean, which was still premature, before medical examinations confirmed her breast cancer diagnosis in May of that year.
What followed were months of gruelling treatment, including 16 rounds of chemotherapy, surgery that meant she was unable to carry Ivy, and the difficult decision to use a cold cap to reduce her other children’s distress but which meant more time in hospital away from her newborn.
“It was a real battle for me as I was leaving little baby Ivy at home, then I would be at home and feel dreadful with the side effects,” she told The Independent. “It was not the maternity leave I’d planned, [of] baby clubs and spending time with other mums. [There are] milestones you feel you’re missing out on, as well as bonding time that’s so precious.”
But this was time the mother-of-three never got back, as under current UK law, maternity leave must begin at the birth of a child and cannot be paused or postponed.
Every day, at least two women in the UK are diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy or within the first year after giving birth, according to charity Mummy’s Star, which supports women diagnosed with cancer in or around pregnancy.
As a result, hundreds of mothers face losing much, or all, of the period designed for recovery and bonding with their baby – because they are undergoing life-saving treatment. Mummy’s Star found that almost all of the mothers (94 per cent) who responded to its survey last year said their maternity leave was disrupted by their diagnosis.
Campaigners are urging the government to allow maternity leave to be deferred until cancer treatment has finished. The #SaveOurBond campaign suggests women on maternity leave would automatically go on sick leave if they receive a serious diagnosis, then they can finish their maternity leave once they are feeling well enough, before returning to work. A similar change was introduced in Ireland in 2024.
If maternity legislation had been reformed and clarified at the time Ms Priest needed it, she said it would have been life-changing. “It would’ve very much helped me emotionally, physically, mentally, financially,” she said. “It’s been brutal financially because I haven’t been well enough to return to work.”
The 41-year-old was freelancing at the time and so on statutory maternity pay, which ended two months after her diagnosis. She said she was then not made aware she was eligible for sick leave, which she also discovered was an arduous process.
“When you’re fighting for your life and your kids, that’s not the sort of thing you prioritise,” she said. So there was a six-month gap when she had no money coming in at all, a stressor which can force women back to work prematurely. Ms Priest said she felt “huge pressure” and has now decided to return to work, despite still receiving treatment, although there is fortunately now no evidence the cancer remains.
She said: “It’s just another thing to worry about. My mental health throughout this has been ripped to shreds. You’re not only thinking about your children, but also, ‘Am I going to survive this? What’s my legacy?’ The emotional toll this has taken on me – it’s kicking you when you’re down. That mental pressure when you should be fighting for other things such as your life, and then the financial impact on us.”
The campaign has already gained backing from the likes of John McDonnell MP and Grahame Morris MP.
Mr McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes & Harlington and former shadow chancellor, said: “At the request of several constituents, I met the ‘Save our Bond’ campaigners. This campaign asks that mums and birthing parents diagnosed with cancer in or around their pregnancy are allowed to defer their maternity leave until their treatment is complete. Really good idea – I support.”
Ms Priest, who is a trustee of Mummy’s Star, is joining calls for legislative change.
“It’s only a tiny amendment, yet makes such a significant difference to women such as myself’s lives – I feel completely and utterly robbed,” she said. “Sick leave is sick leave, maternity leave is maternity leave. We want the law to be changed so you can make that clear distinction and still be allowed to have that precious maternity leave for the purpose it was intended – which is to bond with your child.”
A UK government spokesperson said: “Receiving news of a cancer diagnosis is devastating for individuals and families at any time, especially for mothers on maternity leave who should be spending that precious time bonding with their newborn baby.
“Our National Cancer Plan sets out how we will support people including pregnant and postnatal women with cancer, and our parental leave review is exploring how we can better support working families so that parents can spend time doing what matters most – caring for their baby.”
