‘Something’s not right’: The symptoms dismissed during pregnancy that led to a shock diagnosis

Monday, 15 June 2026

Thousands of New Zealanders are now eligible for earlier bowel cancer screening as the starting age dropped from 60 to 58 across most of the country.

The age will drop further to 56 later in the year. The rollout is expected to take two years and by September 2028, another 200,000 New Zealanders will have become eligible for screening.

Bowel cancer is the second-deadliest cancer in the country with around 1200 lives are lost each year. That is despite being up to 90% treatable when detected early.

We are talking to people who have been affected by the disease. If you have any questions about bowel cancer, use the form below and we will put them forward to experts to answer.

Samantha’s story - diagnosed with bowel cancer at 26 while 28 weeks pregnant

I’m 36 soon and I live in Hamilton. I come from a small family and work in corporate communications as a communications business partner. I grew up on a farm in the Waikato, which was an incredible place to be a kid. You really couldn’t ask for a better childhood.

I didn’t know anything about rectal cancer. The only thing I knew was that my grandmother passed away from bowel cancer 22 years earlier, that was the extent of my knowledge.

The first signs were easy to dismiss. I was pregnant, after all. When I started having trouble passing stools and noticed bleeding, it was put down to haemorrhoids. I was having regular blood tests and felt utterly exhausted.

I didn’t expect what came next.

I remember the date when everything changed - June 15, 2016. I was diagnosed with stage 3B bowel cancer - rectal carcinoma with group G streptococcal sepsis in the early third trimester.

I had a raging fever, was shivering despite feeling like my body was on fire, and when the team tried to examine my bowel, I remember pointing to the area and saying, “something’s not right down there”.

A few days later they attempted a colonoscopy, but they couldn’t get far because the tumour was blocking the way. An MRI revealed the full picture: a tumour 11cm long completely filling my large bowel.

Within days, the focus shifted to saving both me and my baby. The only viable option was to deliver my son early. He was born via caesarean on June 24, 2016 — three months premature — because I was too weak to deliver naturally. Shortly after, I was fitted with an ileostomy bag.

I was told I wouldn’t be able to have any more children. It was devastating, and nearly 10 years on, it’s still tough. But I am so thankful I have my miracle boy.

Becoming a mother was overwhelming but I didn’t really have time to process it because I went straight into treatment. Five weeks of daily radiation and oral chemotherapy, followed by multiple rounds of intravenous chemotherapy. Partway through, I was hospitalised again with severe weight loss, and that’s when doctors discovered the cancer had spread to my liver.

I just knew I had to give it everything I had. My son became my fight.

I always told myself that it was 50% treatment and 50% attitude. I fought to be here for him. It took a physical and emotional toll I never thought possible. Life throws curveballs, but this was on another level.

After further chemotherapy, surgeons removed two lesions from my liver. Later scans showed the bowel tumour had shrunk by 75%. What had once seemed inoperable suddenly wasn’t.

Eventually, surgeons were able to reconnect my bowel, meaning I didn’t need a permanent colostomy bag. I completed 12 rounds of chemotherapy, and later, my ileostomy was reversed.

All of it — the treatment, the surgeries, the recovery — happened in the space of about eight or nine months.

My son was, and still is, my little ray of sunshine. He carried me through every test, surgery, good day and bad day.

With little awareness at the time of just how serious my situation was, I leaned entirely on an extraordinary medical team who moved quickly to save both my son and me. Their decisions - delivering him early, managing sepsis, intensive radiation, chemotherapy, and multiple major surgeries - carried me through an incredibly frightening time.

Hearing the words ‘cancer free’ was overwhelming. Honestly, I don’t think the medical staff expected me to come out the other side either.

But the experience has stayed with me. It changed how I see motherhood. It made me incredibly grateful for the small things that so many people take for granted.

I’m speaking out because Aotearoa has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world, and too many people are still being told they’re “too young” to be taken seriously.

And if you’re going through it right now — don’t give up. Reach out for support. There are so many people willing to share their experiences, their advice, or simply listen. Find those people and surround yourself with them.

This is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Bowel Cancer New Zealand is encouraging people to know the symptoms:

• Bleeding from the bottom or in your poo

• A persistent change in bowel habits

• Ongoing or severe abdominal pain

• Unexplained weight loss or fatigue

• A lump or swelling in the abdomen

For more information, visit Bowel Cancer New Zealand here.