1000 abortions a year linked to extreme morning sickness

Many sufferers of severe morning sickness, or hyperemesis gravidarum, felt they couldn’t survive another day of their pregnancies

1000 abortions a year linked to extreme morning sickness

by Kayleigh Dray |
Published on

The debilitating condition - which is much more severe than ordinary morning sickness - can leave women too ill to get out of bed and being sick up to 30 times a day.

It can also lead to headaches, a heightened and warped sense of smell, extreme fatigue, dizziness, dehydration, depression, weight loss, and near-constant nausea.

Some women even find themselves vomiting blood. And, in severe cases, the condition can lead to complications such as burst blood vessels, pressure sores, deep vein thrombosis, and placental abruption.

For 10% of sufferers, the symptoms are simply intolerable - and they feel they have no choice but to terminate their pregnancies.

The Duchess of Cambridge suffered from HG during both of her pregnancies
The Duchess of Cambridge suffered from HG during both of her pregnancies

According to charity Pregnancy Sickness Support, which has produced a report on women's experiences of hyperemesis gravidarum, not enough women receive the care and treatment they need to continue their pregnancies.

It said: "Our research suggests that a significant proportion of women who have ended wanted HG pregnancies were not offered the full range of treatment options, but expected either to put up with the sickness or undergo an abortion."

They surveyed 70 women from the UK, all of whom had elected to have an abortion as their sickness was so severe.

There is more awareness of the condition because of the Duchess of Camrbidge (aka Kate Middleton)’s well-publicised experience with HG during the early stages of both her pregnancies,said the charities, which surveyed 71 women who ended their pregnancies while suffering with HG.

The report said: "While the experience of the Duchess of Cambridge has dramatically raised awareness of HG, the coverage inevitably did not reflect that many sufferers unfortunately struggle to obtain comparable treatment."

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Fewer than one in 10 of the women surveyed were offered steroid therapy [which can be an option for women who don't respond to other anti-sickness drugs] and 47% of the women surveyed said they had asked for medication and it had been refused, or were not offered any.

One woman, who terminated her pregnancy in 2014, said: “If I hadn't been given such terrible facts about the use of steroid treatment...I would have

asked for them.

“I am still very angry that I had to endure a termination and no alternatives were given. Regardless that the pregnancy was unplanned it would have been a very much loved addition to our family if I didn't have to endure severe hg for the majority of the pregnancy.”

The report called for better awareness of the condition and its impact on women.

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"Women should feel neither guilty nor stigmatised for their decision. Continuing to raise the profile of HG will hopefully go some way helping people understand the severe impact this condition has on pregnant women's lives," it said.

"No woman should ever be judged, feel ashamed or a failure for deciding that abortion is the best course of action for her, or pressured into accepting medication when she believes ending the pregnancy is what she needs to do.

"But women with pregnancies they wish to keep deserve prompt access to treatments that may enable them to do just that."

Have you ever suffered from HG? Let us know via the comments box below.

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