A children's nurse has been given just months to live, after doctors spotted something unusual while she was giving birth.

Alex Stewart, 28, was diagnosed with cervical cancer three months after giving birth to her second child. Despite numerous treatments, doctors told her the cancer had spread, and she was given between six months and two years to live.

While she should be enjoying her time on maternity leave, Alex is still receiving chemotherapy and "trying to stay as positive as possible", she said. Her friends Jessie, Lucy, Becky, and Meg launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help support her family, as well as making sure Alex is comfortable at home throughout her treatment.

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Alex, from Braintree, Essex, was giving birth to her son, Teddy, when midwives found an unusual lump. During her eight-week follow-up with a GP, it was revealed the lump was still there.

"Within two weeks, I had an MRI, bloods, a biopsy of the lump and everything - and that came back with cervical cancer," Alex told the Mirror. "I had literally no symptoms at all until after I had the biopsy... and then I got told I had cervical cancer.”

Alex, who is up to date with all her smear tests, encourages women to continue getting checked, despite them often being uncomfortable. She started six intensive weeks of chemotherapy, as well as brachytherapy; a type of radiation treatment that works from inside the body. But, a few months later, her diagnosis took a turn for the worse.

"On Christmas Day, I woke up with a really bloated belly," she said. "I just thought it was caused by eating something over the Christmas period, so I just kept an eye on it.

"About four days later, I had some lumps come up in my neck, so I spoke to my doctors at the hospital, and then they got me in for a CT scan on New Year's Eve. On January 2, they asked me to come in urgently and they said it had spread from being cervical cancer, all the way up to my tummy and it was in my lymph nodes, all up to the neck, and that it was now incurable.”

The cancer is quite aggressive, and it wasn't responding how doctors hoped it would, she added. They've now started her on a six-month course of chemotherapy in the hope of slowing its progress.

Alex said: "They said I'd have six months to two years. It depends on whether the cancer responds to the chemo, because they're not sure why it's not behaving how a typical cervical cancer would behave. It's progressed really quickly even with treatment."

Alex said her husband Joe was struggling with the very aggressive nature of the cancer. "He has been absolutely amazing, working full time as a head of PE at a secondary school and coming to all my appointments and more. We have moved in with my parents to support us in this very difficult time, which has been a big support for us."

The heartbreak of living with a terminal cancer diagnosis has been coupled with the difficulties of having a newborn baby. She couldn't breastfeed her new son, and she was incredibly tired during the day, she said.

She struggled to breastfeed her first child, three-year-old Elsie, when she was a baby. It was particularly hard to have it taken away from her after successfully navigating breastfeed with her latest child, she said.

"Obviously I was very tired, and I was really sick with the chemo and radiotherapy, so even little things like being able to feed him and change his bum I couldn't do," Alex added. "We'd have cuddles, but it was just very hard to feel like a new mum because that was all taken away from me.

"We couldn't go out and do things as a family. I didn't get to go to baby classes or anything like that because I was so unwell.”

The childrens' nurse is hoping that money raised in her GoFundMe would be able to support both of her children when she's not here. She'd like to be able to offer them play therapy counselling, and she'd also like to make as many memories as possible, she said.

"I'd like to have little trips away, so maybe like a cottage on the beach - just because Teddy's never been to the beach," she said. "Then just like a little pamper day with my daughter. She likes to get her nails painted and things like that."

Alex still has good days and bad days, she said. She's taking each day as it comes, but admitted she's angry about her diagnosis.

"Some days are better than others," she said. "Obviously I'm very tired, but I'm trying to stay as positive as possible.

"If I'm tired one day, I'll just rest. If I've got the energy to do little things, like doing my three-year-old's hair for her to go to nursery, then I will do what I can.

"I guess my mood's up and down. I'm angry that this is happening to us. It's just a lot to take in."

Friend Jessie Mullins said Alex as a children’s nurse has devoted so much of her time to looking after children and families. “Alex is doing amazingly and she is one of the most selfless people I know. She is trying to navigate a very difficult time while making it her priority think of everyone else.”

You can donate to Alex's GoFundMe here