A BEVERLEY mum is celebrating the birth of her 'miracle baby' which has sent a message of hope to other cancer sufferers.
Teressa Woodhead (36) underwent months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy last year after undergoing surgery for breast cancer.
Four months after starting a course of Herceptin - which has been hailed as the new wonder drug in the treatment of breas
t cancer - Teressa learned that she was pregnant.
She is one of the first women in the world to conceive while taking the drug, and although she stopped taking it immediately she still faced weeks of uncertainty wondering what the effects might be on her baby.
The fear was lifted to a great extent when she had a 20-week scan which revealed that the unborn baby was fine.
But it was not until Kiera Penny-Rose was born on February 11 that Teressa could be sure that everything was well.
Now Teressa and her partner, Neil Llewellyn, are celebrating the birth of the ‘miracle’ baby they pray will send hope to other people facing cancer.
Teressa, who at one time was planning her own funeral, can now look forward to life with her family.
She already has a four-year-old daughter Rhianne, and says that Kiera’s birth has brought them all huge joy.
“She would not be here if I was not meant to be here - I truly believe that she is here for a reason. She fought through all the drugs I was taking and she is perfect. She has worked really hard and she is a little fighter,” said Teressa.
She said Neil was ‘absolutely ecstatic’ about the new baby, and Rhianne is ‘the best big sister in the world.’
“She is a little mother hen - she helps with the nappies, helps to bath and feed her. She is absolutely fabulous with her.”
Despite the reassurance of the scan that had shown that her baby was healthy, Teressa said it was not until after the birth that she could be sure Kiera had suffered no ill-effects.
“In my mind there was still a fear that there could have been something wrong that the scan could not detect, but she is absolutely perfect and really pretty. Once she had been checked by the paediatricians I just held her for an hour and a half,” she said.
Kiera, who weighed in at 6lb 4oz, was given her middle name in honour of Teressa’s breastcare consultant.
Teressa, who lives in Coltman Avenue, is no longer taking medication and is looking forward to having reconstructive surgery.
Although she has to wait five years to be given the all-clear, she says she feels very healthy and believes the cancer has gone.
