Woman Tells How Extreme Morning Sickness Left Her Too Ill To Shower Or Brush Her Teeth

An expectant mother has spoken candidly about how her extreme morning sickness during her "miracle pregnancy" left her "wanting to die."

Louise Çaprak, 32, could not believe her luck when she fell pregnant naturally, after having her IVF delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But her delight was short-lived as Louise developed non-stop and extreme morning sickness at just six and a half weeks into the pregnancy.

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The Cheshire-born mum-to-be was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a severe form of morning sickness leaving her unable to keep food or liquids down.

Speaking about the condition, Louise explained: "I already felt like I had failed at motherhood, before it had begun.

"I was starving my unborn child of nutrients and didn't feel any happiness, excitement or connection with my growing bump at all. All I felt was sick.

"I hated my body for making me so unwell, rather than loving it for giving us this miracle and I started to resent the bump for causing HG."

She continued: "Then the guilt would kick in for feeling that way and I'd assume something terrible would happen as punishment. Every hour feels like a decade with HG. What should be such a joyous time is stolen from you and you can never get it back."

However, Louise's condition isn't entirely uncommon for expectant mothers, with HG thought to affect three in every 100 pregnancies, according to the NHS.

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Those who are suffering are admitted to hospital where they are given anti-sickness drugs and constantly kept rehydrated in order to break the HG cycle.

The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, has suffered with HG and was hospitalised during her three pregnancies.

Actress Helen Flanagan, who is pregnant with her third child, has also opened up about her experiences of the condition.

However, Louise has been in hospital four times with HG, finding the condition flares up again after she is discharged.

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And unlike normal morning sickness, which the NHS says affects around eight in every 10 pregnant women and usually passes after around 16 weeks, her HG has never stopped.

"HG is not the same as morning sickness," Louise explained.

"There have been days when I've thought, 'I can't cope. I don't want to carry on. It would just be easier to die in my bed.'

"One of the problems is that you don't know when it will end. I did have three weeks - from 25 to 28 weeks - where is eased, but then it came back with a vengeance."

Some cases of HG can be so severe that some women have chosen to terminate their pregnancies.

Speaking of the relentless sickness, Louise said: "It's hard to describe just how weak and exhausted it's made me feel.

"I've found it difficult to exercise. Even walking around the garden has been hard, so my muscles have started to waste and my back and legs have felt weak and sore.

"The HG spanned across four or five months, and at its worst showering and brushing my teeth became a distant luxury.

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"I didn't recognise this person I had become. What was supposed to be the most joyous time for my husband and I, had become a living nightmare."

The condition has only eased for Louise when she discovered the Pregnancy Sickness Support charity, who matched her with a volunteer to help her discuss the severity of her condition and whether it could have had an effect on her unborn baby.

She continued: "I've learned that babies are very resilient, much more resilient than you think.

"Although I still feel sick, it's not as bad as it was, but it is a difficult thing to tell other people about, because they just say, 'Oh, I was sick with mine' and tell you to have a ginger biscuit for the nausea.

"I'm sure morning sickness is awful, but it's not the same as HG and I don't think people understand that.

Louise, who is now back at work and gaining weight thanks to the anti-sickness tablets she is now taking, is now campaigning to make HG a better-known and more prominent issue than just having it conflated with morning sickness.

But the severity of her symptoms have still left a mental scar.

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"I'm back at work now and can get to the end of the day, but I'm still really only functioning at 50 per cent," Louise said.

"I can't eat three meals a day and when I look back over the whole experience I think it has probably left me with PTSD. Lockdown restrictions meant I had to be in hospital alone, too, which was really isolating.

"It was really difficult for my husband too, seeing me so unwell and worrying about me and our baby. He was my full-time carer, which made me feel really guilty.

"It is soul destroying when this is a such a wanted pregnancy."

Topics: Pregnancy, Life News, Babies, health news, Real Life

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

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