In fact she was distraught, because a swift mental calculation told her the baby had been conceived while she was undergoing potentially harmful radiotherapy.

Kelly, 31, explains: “I was frightened the baby could be born deformed.

"I really wanted this child, but the more I thought about it, the less I felt I could go through with it.

“Finding out I was pregnant was worse than being told I had cancer.

"At least then I had a clear path to follow – with pregnancy, I was in the dark.

"I was scared of the damage radiotherapy could have done to my baby, but the thought of a termination was too awful for words.”

Doctors warned Kelly that babies subjected to radiotherapy are at risk of severe deformities as a result of stunted growth.

However, they added that since Kelly’s month-long course had targeted her breast area and not her abdomen, there was a chance her unborn child might be unharmed.

Kelly said: “I did think about a termination, but the thought tore me apart.

"As I was talking to the doctor, a strong feeling came over me that I really wanted to keep this baby.

"It was as if it was meant to be.”

It was in September 2004 that Kelly, then 28, found a lump in her breast and had to have surgery to remove it, along with the surrounding tissue and lymph nodes.

Determined to lead as normal a life as possible, she went back to her job as a police admin worker in Liverpool within a fortnight.

As she underwent eight months of chemo, Kelly was touched by the support of one colleague, James Swetham, who raised £500 for the cancer unit at their local hospital.

The couple soon fell in love and it was during Kelly’s final four weeks of radiotherapy that they discovered she was pregnant.

Despite being warned by her doctor that she would probably go through the menopause after chemo, Kelly had continued to use contraception.

She was banned from using chemical contraception like the pill because of her cancer, so the couple had relied on condoms.

“I was able to work out when I’d fallen pregnant because we’d had an incident when the condom had split,” explains Kelly.

“We didn’t think it would end in a pregnancy.”

James, 26, backed her decision to keep the baby and supported her through the nerve-racking monthly scans.

She says: “My heart was in my mouth each time in case something was wrong, and I’d be in tears afterwards when everything seemed all right.

"I had sleepless nights worrying, crying and even feeling guilty that it would be my fault if the baby was damaged.”

Kelly was also physically worn out.

“The symptoms of pregnancy were very similar to chemo so my body felt completely battered,” she explains.

“When my waters broke three weeks early, I thought I was going to lose my baby.”

But after a 30-hour labour, son Ethan was born.

Even then, Kelly wouldn’t allow herself to believe her baby had survived his radiotherapy ordeal until doctors gave the family the all-clear.

“James and I were crying.

"I was anxious while Ethan was being checked over, but there were no problems, he was perfect,” she smiles.

“I was allowed home that same evening – the staff knew I’d had my fill of hospitals and needed to get out – so James and I took our precious little boy home.

“As I fed him in front of the TV, it was the first time in two years I’d felt normal.

"I’ve now been given the all-clear, and with Ethan in my arms, it feels like a miracle.”

For more on Breast Cancer Campaign, call 020 7749 3700 or visit the website at Breastcancercampaign.org.

Photography: Karen Hatch. Hair & Make-Up: Soula Henderson