The Hyperemesis Files

The Hyperemesis Files Podcast episode 4 features Kaitlin a woman from South Carolina in the US. Kaitlin has 2 boys and suffered HG with her second, although it seems likely that she also suffered with a milder HG with her first pregnancy. Charlotte talks to Kaitlin about her struggle to cope with HG the second time round, trying to care for the child she already had, a business, living in a new town with a very new support network and making the decision to never have children again by undergoing a sterilisation. She also talks about her experience with memory loss from having a thyamine deficiency (due to HG) and how her husband (a medical professional) became her full time carer. As with all the podcasts their maybe triggers so please do listen with someone.

As series 2 continues, I want to explore deeper in to women's stories with hyperemesis. As a community we have to create a safe space for everyone to share. This week Victoria talks to me about her two hyperemesis pregnancies and how the result of not being informed about taking medication in pregnancy, she refused both times and continued her pregnancies without any.
Victoria talks about alternatives to medication to help manage her hyperemesis as she didn't feel able to take what was being offered to her by her doctors.
As this is a safe space I want everyone to be able to talk about medication and alternatives, but I must stress that there is no cure for Hyperemesis and that the majority of the alternatives that week speak about do not work for hyperemesis sufferers, as Victoria herself found out in her second pregnancy.
However, it was interesting for me to learn about how she used to meditate herself to sleep and practiced breathing exercises to quieten her mind and to help her take one day at a time.
Victoria is also a pilates and body control teacher and talks to me about how important the pelvic floor is during pregnancy and labour and how hyperemesis can't negatively affect it. Pelvic floor exercises are just another thing that goes out of the window with HG!

On this weeks podcast is Danea. A mother of two from California, USA.
Her two Hyperemesis experiences were 11 years apart, and her second pregnancy was a complete surprise after failed IVF attempts with her new husband. Whilst they both had children from a previous relationship they were desperate to have a child together.
Danea's second pregnancy took place right at the height of the Global Pandemic, and whilst she remembers being able to get through her first pregnancy with the help of medication, this second pregnancy was so so different.
Finally fitted with a Zofran Pump and a PICC Line, Danea was hopeful that she would start to feel better, and yet her Hyperemesis plagued her right up until labour.
Numerous problems, dismissals and the ordeal from the Zofran pump falling out several times, by the 32 week mark Danea was done. It was all too much. But she had to fight through until she went in to labour and of course now is enduring the problems of HG and the aftermath.
NB: Danea speaks about a warning from her Doctor to minimise taking Zofran. This is common but please be assured that the studies the Doctor was referring to have shown a minimal increase in cleft palate and the benefits in the opinion of HG Charities and Campaigners like myself certainly outweigh the risks.
For more information on Ondansetron/Zofran and this minimal risk please visit the HER Foundation or the Pregnancy Sickness Support website.

This is the last episode of Series 3 and the last ever episode of the Hyperemesis Files Podcast (although I never say never). On today's show I am joined by Rowan. Rowan is 25 and lives in Lancashire with her husband Alex and her 18 month old daughter Olia Daisy.
Rowan is an exceptional guest speaker and details her journey with such elegance and openness.
Together we discuss her initial thoughts about her sickness, from "I am just too weak to do this," to "This is just normal though?" all the way through to finally being administered steroids the final medication on the HG ladder to stop her unbearable suffering.
What is really very important about our conversation is the aftermath of HG as Rowan is still now experiencing un-diagnosed symptoms such as sickness, nausea and not being able to eat. Her story is here to inform not to scare as she acknowledges that she is "one in a million". But her journey has not ended after birth and she is now under the care of 5 professionals who are all trying to understand why these symptoms never went away.
On a personal and emotional note I want to thank everyone for listening over the last 3 series and for supporting the podcast.
The time has come for me to move on to other ways of raising awareness that enable to me to do more in less time and whilst I have enjoyed every second of bringing these episodes to you, they do take up a large amount of my time.
Thanks for listening. Charlotte x