Abi Stephenson’s article about hyperemesis gravidarum – “extreme morning sickness” – carried me through memories, confirmation, horror and, at last, hope (Don’t call it morning sickness: ‘At times in my pregnancy I wondered if this was death coming for me’, 31 July).
When I hear of a new pregnancy, I ask after the mother, recalling my two pregnancies in the early 1990s. Both ended with successful delivery, and I can’t imagine life without my two children. But I wonder whether my daughter will have inherited my predisposition to sickness throughout pregnancy, just as I did from my own mother.
It is wonderful news to think there might be some safe medical option for her and many other women. I had many miserable days and nights with sick bowl to hand, eating one Rice Krispie every 30 minutes and always, always, throwing it back up. I theorised that a morsel of sugary goodness would get through, somehow. For my second pregnancy, under pressure to return to work after six weeks’ sick leave, I spent a morning in the staff toilet before being allowed home again for another month.
The nausea and vomiting started before a positive pregnancy test and ended within hours of giving birth. It took a lot of persuasion for me to embark on a second pregnancy and I’ve never regretted it, but memories soon fade.
Since then I’ve had chemotherapy, which made me so sick that I required all the anti‑nausea drugs on offer. But being pregnant was worse, maybe because I hadn’t anticipated fighting to stay alive as part of the deal. Thanks, Abi, for giving voice to an issue that affects many of us, and causes women to die while pregnant – yet is ignored.
Dr Wendy Bryant
Chappel, Essex