This summer we've curated your Delivery Room playlist with even more birth stories from our friends at Diary Of A Birth.

Imagine discovering you're pregnant just two days after receiving a rare blood cancer diagnosis at 30. For journalist Elle Halliwell, this unimaginable scenario became reality when her routine health check revealed chronic myeloid leukemia—an incurable but treatable condition that would change everything.

Despite doctors advising she terminate the pregnancy to begin life-saving treatment, Elle made the extraordinary decision to continue, feeling it was "meant to be." She takes us through the peace she found amid chaos, and her induced birth at 36 weeks that brought her perfect son Tor into the world. From the emotional rollercoaster of breastfeeding while preparing for cancer treatment, to rebuilding her life as a mother with an ongoing medical condition, Elle's story is a powerful testament to maternal determination that defied medical odds. 

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Listen to more Diary Of A Birth here. 

CREDITS:

Host: Ksenija Lukich

Birth Story: Elle Halliwell 

Obstetrician & Gynaecologist: Dr Bronwyn Devine

Producers: Ksenija Lukich & Tina Matolov

Audio Producer: Leah Porges 

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.