Jya Banks and her wife, Betha, are settling into parenthood after the birth of their son, Harvey, following an unusually complex pregnancy. Banks was diagnosed with advanced blood cancer at 14 weeks and began intensive chemotherapy at Sunshine Coast University Hospital when she was 15 weeks pregnant.
Doctors found cancerous growths in her neck, underarms, chest and abdomen, with the abdominal growth measuring 10 centimetres. Banks said she initially feared she would die and did not know whether she would be able to continue the pregnancy.
The treatment plan was developed by a multidisciplinary team involving cancer specialists, obstetric medicine, maternity and neonatal care. Alana Phillips, a clinical nurse consultant at the hospital, said the majority of fetal development occurs during the first 12 weeks, meaning chemotherapy can sometimes begin in the second trimester, depending on the cancer and stage of pregnancy.
Banks experienced drug fever, fatigue, nausea, low iron and anaemia during treatment. Rebekah Shakhovskoy, a senior staff specialist in general and obstetric medicine, said pregnancy combined with cancer increased risks including blood clots, infections and diabetes, requiring additional monitoring and treatment.
Banks was induced at 37 weeks and gave birth to Harvey on July 20. The baby weighed just over 2 kilograms and had no reported health issues. Betha Banks said the family had worried about whether the cancer or treatment could affect him, but hospital staff had conducted extensive checks.
Three weeks after the birth, Banks’s cancer was in remission. Shakhovskoy said the outcome reflected careful timing and specialist coordination, while cautioning that treatment during pregnancy does not always produce a positive result. She said hospitals were improving diagnostic practices and becoming more confident about which chemotherapy drugs could be used during pregnancy.