A
few weeks into her second
pregnancy, Cathy Davison
started to feel sick every
morning. Within a couple
of days, she was feeling sick – and
being sick – all day, every day. Rather
than “eating for two” – or “eating
for three” in Cathy’s case as she was
pregnant with twins – Cathy couldn’t
keep anything down. When even the
smell of a glass of water made her
feel nauseous, she realised that the
extreme form of morning sickness that
had affected her first pregnancy was
back to complicate her second.
While about 75 per cent of women
experience the common – albeit
unpleasant – symptoms of nausea
and vomiting of pregnancy, Cathy
was suffering from hyperemesis
gravidarum, a condition which is
estimated to affect from half a per
cent to two per cent of pregnancies.
Sufferers can vomit 20 to 30 times
per day or more, and their physical
Sick
Spending every waking hour either feeling sick or
being sick is a reality of pregnancy for some women
suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum.
Rachel Kenney
finds out more about this distressing condition.
discomfort is often compounded with
the emotional worry of what this
involuntary starvation might mean for
their developing baby. For some, the
symptoms can disappear at the end of
the first trimester of pregnancy, but
for others, the constant nausea will
continue right up until birth.
Women who experience
hyperemesis gravidarum with one
pregnancy are likely to suffer with
it during subsequent pregnancies,
a fact that puts many women off
becoming pregnant again. In
some extreme cases, women have
requested terminations as their
symptoms have been so severe. What
causes the condition is not known,
although it is thought that it may be
linked to the elevated levels of the
pregnancy hormone human chorionic
gonadotropin, which increases after
conception. Increased oestrogen
during pregnancy may also play a role,
as may a deficiency in vitamin B.
Running on empty
Whatever causes hyperemesis
gravidarum, living with it is a
challenge. Cathy, who has lived in
Asia for 12 years, explains, “I could
hardly function. I was trying to care
for my four-year-old daughter, Evie,
but it was almost impossible. I couldn’t
take her anywhere, or do anything
with her. Once, when we were in
the supermarket together, I fainted.
I didn’t have a helper at that point,
but I had to hire one, mainly to take
Evie to the park or playdates – I was
retching pretty much constantly, and
had to order a taxi just to go a couple
of hundred metres to school. My
husband had to keep getting home
from work early so he could bathe
Evie, and he had to take her out at
weekends, as I could barely leave the
house. I also needed help cooking for
Evie – I couldn’t cook, as the smells
made me feel so sick, so she had been
living on sandwiches.”
tired
November 2013
57
