Mummy’s Star is the only charity in the UK and Ireland dedicated to women and their families affected by cancer during pregnancy.

Their work is done through five main strands:

Providing a ‘one stop shop’ for advice on cancer diagnosis in pregnancy including links to localised services; supported directly by Macmillan.

Advocacy on behalf of families. This includes support at hospital appointments, benefit entitlements, working with other organisations to draw in additional support, and employment rights advice.

Emergency small grants for families which could be for anything which is deemed as supporting the family. For example, paying for a support carer/nanny to help in the house, payment to make up for unpaid leave taken by a partner to support at home above and beyond the allowances of paternity and travel costs. This is not an exhaustive list. Grants up to £1000 are also provided in the event of a terminal cancer diagnosis, for memory making activities, a family holiday, etc..

Facilitating peer support in a supervised setting via the use of administrated internet forums. Also, where appropriate, staff provide support for all affected women individually via email, phone, Facebook and occasionally in person, thereby reducing isolation.

In the event of the death of a mum, we continue to support both for the surviving partner, through widowers networks, and also counselling support for them and their children.