Coronation Street's Sinead Tinker's "world turns upside down" when she's told she may have cancer.

Katie McGlynn

Katie McGlynn

The mum-to-be - who is played by Katie McGlynn - initially fears she's having a miscarriage because she's bleeding, but is shocked when an obstetrician discovers a potentially-cancerous lump on her cervix.

Katie said: "She thinks she's having a miscarriage...

"[When she finds the lump] Sinead's whole world turns upside down."

But Sinead doesn't even confide in her fiance Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) about her medical woes, and tells her aunt Beth Sutherland (Lisa George) everything is fine, even though she confided in her about the bleeding.

Katie explained to What's On TV: "She thinks if she keeps burying it and doesn't tell anyone it might not be real."

And the machinist blames herself for her potential diagnosis.

Katie told Entertainment Daily: "Heartbreak over blaming herself for the cancer because she had a termination - definitely.

"She says to the doctor when she finds out that it might be cancer, 'I've had an abortion is that why?'.

"They assure her that it's not but she still secretly blames herself because she thinks it is."

Despite the risks to her own health, Sinead wants to do whatever it takes to protect her baby.

Katie said: "All the way through it she's constantly thinking about the baby, even though she's only around three months pregnant when she finds out that she might have cancer she's still thinking about the baby.

"When they say to her you've got a lump, she says 'is the baby OK?'. She's got a maternal instinct straight away, she's not thinking about herself."