How to Deal With Severe Morning Sickness Liverpool

By  Supernanny Team 11/09/2007

Becoming pregnant should be one of the happiest times in a woman’s life, but if you’re affected by Hyperemesis, that’s unlikely to happen. Instead it becomes a very strange time – you’re excited by the baby inside you, but feel so incredibly ill, that joy is very much muted.

“Hyperemesis is extreme vomiting in pregnancy”, says Emeka Okaro, a consultant gynaecologist at the Royal London and St Bartholomew Hospital Trust. “There are a number of theories about why it happens, and it’s often not taken seriously enough. It can also be quite dangerous for the mother, who may suffer vitamin deficiencies, and in rare cases, neurological problems.”

Women usually start suffering from Hyperemesis very early on in their pregnancy – sometimes even before they have told people they are pregnant. Those early months can be very precious, but when you are throwing up twenty or more times a day, they become more of a chore to struggle through.

“I was vomiting up to thirty or forty times a day,” says midwife and sufferer Johanne Jakeway. “I was so sick I couldn’t stand up. I felt sick all the time and couldn’t eat anything until around 24 weeks.”

No one is quite sure why Hyperemesis occurs, although it’s generally believed that it happens because of very sensitive hormone levels. Some women get so ill, they can’t swallow their own saliva without needing to be sick and while most people don’t have it all the way through their pregnancy, unfortunately some do keep having symptoms until they give birth.

Around eighty percent of women will suffer from some form of morning sickness, but only around one to three percent will suffer from Hyperemesis (and only a very, very small percentage of those will have to go through the whole pregnancy suffering). Hyperemesis is so much more than morning sickness.

Don’t worry about the baby…….

But that doesn’t mean you have to worry about your little one. Babies are parasites and they will take all the nutrients they need from you. It’s the mothers who suffer from hyperemesis, not the developing foetus.

Sometimes the drugs do work…..

You may find that if you are suffering, you will be taken into hospital and put on a drip to re-hydrate you. You may also be offered a range of drugs, particularly the anti- sickness drugs Cyclizine, Stemetil and Metoclopramide (or maxolon)

Ondanestron (or Zofran) is another drug which some mothers find useful, but it is very expensive.

Feeling alone? Do seek help

Women suffering from Hyperemesis may have different symptoms – some maybe sick for months on end, others may stop at 16 weeks or so. Some women may be sick constantly, others may be able to eat a little. But most will tell you that they feel alone and depressed while they are suffering.

What’s important is to seek help. You are not alone. Try self-help groups on the internet, talk to your hospital or GP and also talk to friends and family. It is a very hard time, and sometimes you may fee...

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