Leaf: Leukaemia Press

Bournemouth Echo Article March 25th 2006

BEING A MUM IS NEVER EASY. BUT HOW MUCH HARDER IS IT WHEN YOU HAVE TO SPEND THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF YOUR BABY’S LIFE IN A HOSPITAL ROOM FIGHTING CANCER? AS MOTHER’S DAY APPROACHES, WE TALK TO A REMARKABLE DORSET MUM WHO HAS DONE JUST THAT.BY FAITH ECKERSALL

The hardest thing is not the powerful medicine that rips through her veins and makes her hair fall out and eaves her feeling so ill. It’s not the endless, mind numbing hours she has been shut in her little room at Poole hospital with just a few days freedom in the last 5 months. It’s not even the worry, fear and frustration at the sheer awfulness of it all. According to Natasha, the most upsetting thing is this: “When people bring my baby in and they are pushing the pram I’ve chosen and the clothes I bought for him and I realise I haven’t done anything I’d normally do for my baby, like take him to the health visitor, that’s when I feel I’ve missed out on being a proper Mum.”