2017 Will Be Our Best Year

After a life-changing 12 months, these womenreveal why they can’t wait for the year ahead.

- Matthew Barbour

Finally, I’m a mum!

Jade Peachey, 32, lives in march, Cambridgeshire with her partner Peter, 32, and daughter Effie, 10 months.

This New Year’s countdown will be more exciting than most. Because healthy and happy – and with an adorable little girl – I know 2017 will be special.

It was September 2006 when, after a routine smear test, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. All I could do was cry, as my partner, Peter, held me in his arms.

But doctors said I had a good chance of recovery if I underwent a trachelectomy. Surgeons would remove the cancerous part of my cervix and a small stitch would be made in what remained, to provide support during any future pregnancy. ‘But it’s going to be difficult to carry a child,’ the doctor said.

I’d always longed to be a mum, but I had no choice. So I had the op and doctors said I was cancer-free.

Growing stronger

Peter and I were keen to enjoy life. But by my 30th birthday I wanted to start a family and, in October 2015, I fell pregnant.

As my bump got bigger, I grew more terrified. I was at risk of infection and convinced that at any moment I could lose my baby. And then, in February 2016, at just 27 weeks pregnant, my waters broke. The panic was overwhelming. I was on bed rest for three days before being taken for a caesarean.