A new mum was told that a lump on her neck was due to "straining" during labour, only to find out it was actually stage four cancer.

Natalie Casey, 30, gave birth to her baby boy, Luca, on New Year's Eve and found herself struggling to breathe in the gas pain relief. Two days later, a lump appeared in her neck, which she said a midwife put down to straining during birth.

The young mum said: "When I showed it to the midwife, she said it could just be from having the baby. It didn't go after two weeks."

As the lump became more noticeable, Natalie went to see her GP and was put on the two-week cancer pathway. It was at this point that Natalie was shocked to find out that she had stage four Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a blood cancer that starts in the lymphatic system.

She said of the diagnosis: "I didn't even know it was blood cancer. When you've got your baby in your arms the news is so scary.I had a biopsy that came back inconclusive and they said the only way to give me a proper diagnosis was to have surgery to remove the lymph nodes."

Natalie continued: "I had a new born baby, an operation and a cancer diagnosis. It wasn't a number of lumps, it was a whole area, in my neck, my sternum and chest area. I was absolutely distraught, my fiancé lost his mum and dad to cancer and I thought I had the same prognosis and that I was done."

The 30-year-old underwent chemotherapy and found out that she was responding to it "amazingly" by April. She now has two rounds of chemotherapy left and is "praying for remission".

Natalie felt that she had the option to "let it consume me or enjoy being a new mum and crack on with it and be strong for my baby and fiancé".

She said she was "blessed" to have her "incredible" son, but added that it was difficult sometimes to adjust to being a new mum with her hormones "all over the place".

She explained: "Sometimes I don't know if some things are because of my hormones or because of cancer. It can happen to anyone, you do have to try to find the positives in it.

"I'm navigating a cancer diagnosis but I'm also navigating being a new mum and that comes with its own highs and lows."

Following her shock diagnosis, Natalie is encouraging other women to stay vigilant with their health and get any symptoms checked.

She said: "Be your own advocate and really push for yourself it is easy to walk away and say it's pregnancy. I brushed my own health off because I was so focused on the baby."

Natalie added: "As a mum, your baby is your priority but you need to be healthy for your baby."

'I was told lump in neck was from straining during labour - it was much worse' - The Mirror