A first-time mother whose tiredness and bleeding gums were thought to be “common pregnancy symptoms” has said she felt “completely blindsided” when she was given a shock diagnosis 10 days after giving birth.
Rebecca Robinson, 33, a product manager who lives in Leeds with her husband James, experienced fatigue during pregnancy in 2024. A blood test at 28 weeks flagged low iron, but her midwife was not concerned. When her gums started bleeding in the final weeks, her dentist told her it was perfectly normal.
Diagnosis after labour
During labour on April 26, 2024, doctors took blood samples that revealed low platelets. After delivery, she developed a high temperature and was kept in hospital for eight days. She was discharged but called back two days later – 10 days after giving birth – for a bone marrow biopsy. While cuddling her newborn on May 7, she was told she had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a fast-growing blood cancer.
“They took me into a room and said: ‘You’ve got leukaemia. We’re going to do a biopsy today to work out exactly what’s what, but you’ll be in for six weeks and you’ll have to stop breastfeeding because the chemo will make your milk toxic’,” she explained. “It all just felt very out of the blue.”
Treatment and recovery
Rebecca started chemotherapy two days later and reached remission after the first round. She continued with three more rounds, ending in November 2024, and did not require a stem cell transplant. She now has biopsies every three months and feels “lucky” to be alive.
“I felt hugely guilty for Annabel because that’s not the life that I wanted her to have,” Rebecca said. “I wanted to be able to go to baby classes with her and just have the maternity leave away from work, and my reality was completely different. I just felt robbed… but luckily, I got into remission after the first round and I’ve stayed in remission ever since.”
Raising awareness
Colin Dyer, chief executive of Leukaemia Care, said: “Rebecca’s story is a powerful reminder that leukaemia can strike at any stage of life – even during pregnancy. Every symptom she experienced had a perfectly innocent explanation, and that is exactly what makes this disease so difficult to catch. We are so grateful to Rebecca for sharing her experience and helping to show others that if something doesn’t feel right, it is always worth asking for a blood test.”
Rebecca urged others to get unusual symptoms checked. She said: “To anyone diagnosed, just know that it’s all temporary and you can make a full recovery. That is the story I wish that I would have seen two years ago when I was lying in bed with a newborn. I wish I could have just found a story like mine and thought: ‘That’s going to be me’.”
