Have you found some articles on morning sickness to be out of touch with reality? The tips offered to pregnant women who have severe morning sickness, (A.K.A. Hyperemesis Gravidarum), although some helpful, others have been more annoying than anything else. To tell someone who has it to drink ginger, eat crackers, and to eat every 2 hours, is of no good use if the Mom-to-be can’t even hold down water.
Some pregnant moms may have no choice but to go to the emergency room to receive IV medicine to control the vomiting. Reality, once the Mom-to-be is feeling better; she may end up right back in the hospital for her next dose. Pregnancies of this nature are not fun at all! People don’t realize the seriousness of it until they are around you daily, and even then, some will still say, “It can’t be that bad.” Let it be known that it can get ugly!
While in the hospital, one nurse stated, “If I had to go through a pregnancy of this magnitude, ‘I wouldn’t have any children ever again.” You got that right! As long as you are faced with the horrifying memories of having this type of sickness lasting anywhere from three to six months, where all you did was stay by the toilet, you may find the thought of having another baby quite frightening!
How does insurance play a role in this? Most insurance companies do not want to pay the bill for patients who suffer with this condition; they would rather let the Moms-to-be suffer at home. If you have Medicaid because you fall under the low income bracket, good luck! They won’t even give you the time needed to stay in the hospital in order for you to get better. They may even give you a difficult time about getting a prescription, just so you can cope. This is unacceptable, especially if you have other children to take care of! The doctor may ask you ridiculous questions like, “Can your husband take care of the children until you get better?” What if you are the primary caretaker because your husband works all day? Do you try to eat a cracker before getting out of bed? Do you eat every 2 hours to prevent nausea? Really! Do some doctors even have a clue? One doctor stated, “I had severe morning sickness too and I would go to work, run to the toilet, and back to my job again.” When asked if she had more children, her response was, “no just one, that experience was enough.”
After working for a particular not-for-profit organization who received many phone calls from women who just wanted to have an easier pregnancy, it was realized that abortions could happen at an even lesser rate if women did not have to go through the difficulties of morning sickness. These women stated, “I just want to work.” “I need to take care of my family.” Most of these women were average working people. You might say, “These women were weak,” but only those who have been in these women’s shoes and made it through can truly testify to this. It is embarrassing and others feel uncomfortable being around a person who is sick at work. Your boss may even try to find some excuse to get rid of you or you yourself may end up leaving the job.
So how can women who suffer from Hyperemesis Gravidarum cope? There is really no cure for morning sickness of this nature. Yes there are things you can do to help short term but more needs to be done. If you get prescriptions you must be careful of which ones you take because some have a tendency to cause depression and suicidal thoughts and can even cause harm to the unborn baby, one of the reasons as to why doctors give their patients a difficult time. Zofran is recommended to treat nausea but also can have side effects. You can try ginger tea, then wait awhile and eat a saltine cracker, then wait awhile and have some soup or boiled eggs, then wait awhile and eat a piece of toast. The use of "salt" is a miracle, just don't go overboard! Figuring out which foods are tolerable and which ones are triggers is another good tip.
Ultimately, there needs to be a better way of helping ‘Moms-to-be’ function if they have severe morning sickness. Improving our health care system is one way to start. Now that we are seeing a growing number of women in the medical field, maybe this is sure to turn around for the good of all women.
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