A young Australian mum is ticking off her travel bucket list with her miracle baby, after a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis.

Sarah Shaddick, from Jimboomba in Queensland, was six months pregnant when she was told she had an aggressive and incurable cancer, which had already spread throughout her body.

The 28-year-old is now creating ‘happy memories’ with her baby daughter Halle and partner Luke Hill, travelling around Australia.

“I’m trying to go to every state and territory with Halle before her first birthday. We’ve just got NSW, Victoria and the ACT left,” Sarah said.

The young mum was diagnosed with Leiomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that begins in smooth muscle tissue which is found around the body, including the digestive system, urinary system, uterus and blood vessels.

“The cancerous growths have spread everywhere including my back, neck and legs. I had a 1.4kg mass, measuring 15cm by 20 cm growing on my stomach between my ribs. The mass was growing so quickly – I had my left kidney removed because of the cancer spreading and now have a scar from the left side of my body to the right side.”

Sarah was first diagnosed with cancer when she was just 25, but after beating the disease, she set her heart on becoming a mum. So, guided by a large team of specialists at Mater Mothers’ Hospital Brisbane and Mater’s Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit, Sarah’s dream was realised.

But in November last year, at six months pregnant, Sarah started feeling unwell. Doctor’s told her the cancer had returned, and it was no longer treatable.

The brave mum underwent multiple rounds of chemotherapy while pregnant, and in March this year, gave birth to her ‘happy and healthy’ miracle baby Halle, at 37 weeks.

Mater Cancer Care Centre Senior Medical Oncologist Dr Catherine Shannon said Sarah’s cancer was incredibly rare – so much so that there have been no other reports of similar cases during pregnancy.

“It is safe to use certain types of chemotherapy in the second or third trimester of pregnancy without any adverse effects on the mother or baby,” Dr Shannon said. “We had to use drugs we knew might work for her rare sarcoma and knew they were safe during pregnancy. The drugs worked for a while but then the sarcoma became resistant.”

Sarah says making the choice to undergo cancer treatment while pregnant wasn’t an easy one.

“It was important to me that Halle arrived safely and that I understood the risks associated with having chemotherapy while pregnant. For me, undergoing chemotherapy was to be able to spend more time with Halle.

“Being told chemotherapy was an option and safe while pregnant was comforting. It’s not something that’s widely known, I did a lot of research and asked lots of questions. I had about six rounds of chemotherapy while pregnant and tolerated it well, and then gave birth to Halle, which was such a joy.”

For Sarah, life is now about celebrating every day, and special moments, including Halle’s first Christmas.

“I know this cancer is incurable and no one can tell me what’s going to happen, so I am enjoying the now. I have never felt like giving up, and I won’t.”