"It can save your life": Cancer survivor urges women to go for cervical screening

Credit: ITV Meridian

  • Watch Rachel Hepworth's full report below

A young woman from Farnham in Surrey is urging other women to put aside their embarrassment and go for a cervical screening.

Hannah Baker was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 24 which is below the national screening age.

Hannah endured months of painful symptoms before being diagnosed Credit: ITV Meridian

Women aged 25 to 64 who are registered with a GP are automatically invited for cervical screening.

Figures show screening rates for women aged 25 and above are the lowest they have been in two decades.

Hannah wants women to not put off booking an appointment.

She endured months of painful symptoms before finally being diagnosed.

  • Consultant Gynaecological Oncologist, Dr Adeola Olaitan, from University College Hospital explains the symptoms:

Symptoms of cervical cancer can include:

  • Bleeding after sexual intercourse

  • Bleeding between periods

  • Bleeding after the menopause

  • Persistant vaginal discharge

Hannah wants women to not put off booking an appointment Credit: ITV Meridian

Hannah was pregnant at the time and had a miscarriage, then she was diagnosed.

She was too young for the national screening programme, which starts at 25.

Early diagnosis is key to survival for what is the second most common cancer in women.

Hannah, who works with children, is now unable to have her own.

She's now urging women of all ages to trust their bodies and not take no for an answer.