Expectant mums tell of severe pregnancy sickness

According to the NHS, around 80% of pregnant women experience morning sickness, and some expectant mothers have difficulty with daily life due to extreme nausea. After reporter Beth Parsons was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) during her pregnancy, she speaks to other women affected by the condition.

As I drew the curtains to block out a hot summer afternoon, I did everything I could to avoid getting sick for the 10th time that day and wondered when I would feel myself again.

It’s isolating, lonely, and so hard to describe to someone, especially when the “normal” version of morning sickness is seemingly considered a right-of-passage to pregnancy; A little ginger, an early night, and just getting through the first trimester will fix it.

I had always wanted to be a mother, and my husband and I were overjoyed to test positive, but the pregnancy we had in mind wasn’t exactly welcome.

This was followed by a diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum.

While books and social media posts explained the nutritious diet that would best serve my growing baby, most of the time I couldn’t even hold down water.

I would sip ice-cold liquors and suck on popsicles to keep dehydration as long as I could. Sometimes I would gnaw on toast or dry cereal and then try to sleep, hoping that I would feel nauseous.

This was all happening at a time when I felt very lucky to have started a family and was desperate not to be seen as an ungrateful person.

After seeing my doctor I finally found a medication that helped and it was like the light had finally turned on again.

For the first time in months, I was able to leave the house, return to work, and eat and drink more normally. I’m currently in my 26th week and I haven’t been seriously ill since week 17 of my pregnancy.

After I brought up the topic online and in chat, other women shared their experiences with me.

I noticed how different they were, especially in terms of what support was available and what treatments they had access to.

In particular, the drug that helped me, commonly known as Xonvea, was often withheld from women who desperately wanted to try it.

Three women shared their stories with me.

Sarah Goddard, from North Yorkshire, became pregnant for the second time in August 2024.

She was already a mother of a four-year-old child and was quite ill during her first pregnancy, but HG was never mentioned. The second time he became seriously ill.

“By seven weeks, I couldn’t hold anything in… I was getting sick 15-20 times a day. I was gagging so much that blood started to come out. I had nothing left inside me to give.

“Sometimes I thought I was going to die, I definitely felt that way, but I thought maybe I was being dramatic, until my mom said to me, ‘I think I’m watching you die.'”

The 32-year-old went to hospital three times for anti-sickness injections and intravenous rehydration, but as soon as he got home his condition worsened again. He was offered some medications but they did not work well enough for him.

“I didn’t know how I was going to get through this and eventually, 10 weeks in, we made the impossible decision to terminate the contract.”

Sarah said she was “still devastated” about the decision she felt she had to make when she chose to terminate her pregnancy due to the severity of HG.

“Giving my daughter a sibling was exactly what I did, I tried, and then I took her away.

“I didn’t know how we were going to make it because no one was fighting for us. This is something I will feel guilty about until the end of time.”

She now receives bereavement counseling and mental health support through the charity Pregnancy Illness Support.

Sarah also sought advice from a medical consultant who told her about HG and gave her access to medication so she felt she could try for a third pregnancy.

She is now due to have a baby in 2026 and thanked the consultant, saying: “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be sitting here, 31 weeks pregnant, with my little daughter’s brother.”

Millie Fitzsimons, 28, showed symptoms of HG throughout her pregnancy and experienced how different treatment options can be from one area to another.

He figures he was hospitalized about 16 times in total.

She was living in Boston, Lincolnshire, when she discovered she was pregnant.

“It feels like you’re dying…it’s a feeling you can’t explain. I lost weight for the third time, I was getting sick 40 times a day. You’re always exhausted and sleeping on and off all day. It’s terrible.”

Millie said the support was “really difficult” and often medical staff rolled their eyes and didn’t listen.

He tried many medications, including steroids, which are not recommended as a long-term option.

At around 16 weeks she received help from Pregnancy Support, who advised her to ask for Xonvea medication.

He said medical staff had “never heard of it” and that it had been four months since he requested access to the medicine. He could only get one week’s worth of money at a time.

“They just said it was a postcode lottery and it was really expensive.”

She had access to Xonvea when she moved to York at the end of her pregnancy in April.

Her baby was born in May. She was away from work for eight months because of her pregnancy and didn’t think she would ever have another child.

The charity is campaigning for Xonvea to be included in all drug formularies to avoid problems with access.

Ella Marcham, from Yeadon in Leeds, experienced the first symptoms of HG without even knowing she was pregnant.

Already a mother of two young children, it has not been easy to cope with this debilitating condition while also caring for her family.

“The worst thing for me was the nausea. It never stopped,” the 28-year-old actress said.

“It’s just 24/7, all the time. It’s made it really hard for me to eat and drink properly, parent my kids, live my life normally… it’s so hard to describe.”

She asked her GP and a hospital in Leeds for Xonvea but was told they could not prescribe it. Other drugs had limited success.

“Midwives did their best but we ran into a lot of obstacles from doctors and said ‘no, we can’t prescribe in this area’.”

“I was at such a low point that I couldn’t step back very much because it wasn’t inside me at that point… I just went inside myself a little bit because I didn’t have the energy to keep asking and asking and asking for things.”

Ella briefly explored whether she could access the drug privately, but gave up when online prices started at £86.95 for less than a week.

She gave birth to twins in July and immediately stopped feeling sick.

Ella and her husband, Joe, said dealing with newborn twins and two other children was significantly easier than dealing with hyperemesis gravidarum.

HG patients complain of severe nausea and vomiting; This often means being sick multiple times a day, being unable to hold down food or drink, and no longer being able to go about daily life.

This condition is thought to affect 1-3% of pregnancies and often results in dehydration and weight loss.

Many patients will need medications and intravenous fluids.

If you have had HG before, you are likely to experience it in another pregnancy.

A variety of medications are available for people experiencing HG.

Pregnancy Support has divided these into first, second and third-line medicine categories.

It is suggested that one of the first drugs that should be available to humans is Xonvea, scientifically known as doxylamine succinate and pyridoxine hydrochloride.

It has been licensed in the UK since 2018 and is the only anti-sickness medicine licensed for use in pregnancy in the UK.

Other first-line medications include cyclizine, promethazine, and prochlorperazine.

Second-line medications include metoclopramide, onasetron, and domperidone; Some of these can cause negative side effects for both mother and baby.

Third-line medications are usually steroids and are often successful in treating HG in humans when other measures have failed.

There are a wide range of possible side effects for both mother and baby, but the charity says it is important to remember that if left untreated, HG can cause more harm to the baby than the possible effects of a medication, including steroids.

Intravenous (IV) fluids may be used to correct dehydration during HG. If medication cannot be stopped, medication can also be given through an IV port.

Doncaster GP Dr Dean Eggitt said he saw a woman suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum “every few weeks”.

“When women present with hyperemesis, we usually do a hydration assessment. Are they drinking? Are they peeing? Are they able to perform their daily functions?”

“It could be simple things like looking at what you’re eating, what you’re drinking, ginger biscuits, simple things like that. If none of that is appropriate or doesn’t really work, then we move on to medications.”

The first-line drug is cyclizine, he says, and Xonvea tends to be the second- or third-line drug.

“It’s licensed for use in pregnancy, which means there’s been research to know if it’s safe to use, but in medicine we doctors are a little more careful about that,” she says.

“We are extremely cautious about using a drug that is new to the market in a pregnant woman and an unborn child.

“In some cases you will see the local pharmaceutical management team sitting down and saying: First of all, is this cost effective?

“Secondly, do our GPs know how to use it? And thirdly, do we think our colleagues will feel confident prescribing this new drug, or should we let it sit for a while before it proves it’s safe?”

“So in theory, yes, it’s safe. In reality, we can sometimes be a little more cautious, but that caution is a postcode lottery.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.

• If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can find information and support at: BBC’s Action Line.