What is hyperemesis gravidarum REALLY like? Mum shares hell of condition that made her vomit up to 90 times a day
A MUM has spoken out about her struggle with hyperemesis gravidarum which had her vomiting up to 90 times a day during pregnancy.
The debilitating illness also affects The Duchess of Cambridge, who today announced she was expecting her third child.
Manisha Ferdinand, who wrote about her experience for mums social app , was bed bound for six months due to the horrific condition.
The mum-of-one spoke to The Sun Online about the struggles she faced while carrying her son and the respect she has for Kate as she prepares to battle it for the third time.
Manisha, 35, said: “It was pretty horrendous to be honest.
“Whilst I was incredibly lucky to be pregnant and I was delighted with my son who is now 18 months, it was probably the worst thing physically that’s ever happened to me.
“So I think it’s extraordinary that the Duchess of Cambridge should be going through it for the third time, so stoically and so gracefully.”
Having lived through the condition herself, Manisha feels passionately that its affects shouldn’t be undermined.
She said: “The fact that it’s got a different name to morning sickness should alert people to the fact that it isn’t morning sickness.
“It is being sick nearly 100 times a day and [morning sickness] doesn’t even come close.”
When Manisha became pregnant in 2015 she quickly developed the debilitating symptoms associated with hyperemesis.
She said: “Symptoms started when I was five weeks pregnant. I was then in bed for about 6 months.
“There were a few attempts to get up and go out but I just ended up having to go back to bed."
During this time Manisha wasn’t able to work, despite having hoped to bring in some cash while pregnant with freelance projects.
She said: “I had lots of sickness and vomiting and constant 24 hour nausea no matter what I did. At the worst time I was being sick sort of 80 or 90 times a day.
“I had hypersalivation which is a constant need to spit every 30 seconds or so because you‘re throwing up so much that your stomach is producing extra bile and acid and it’s produces extra saliva to cope with it effectively. So I had a bucket by the side of my bed.
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“Not only is that quite draining physically but also emotionally and mentally, it really affects your sense of self and you feel like you can’t go anywhere or do anything because it’s just embarrassing.”
This lasted for six months, but eased at the beginning of her third trimester before getting bad again for the last eight weeks of her pregnancy.
Despite the horrific time she had carrying her first son Manisha is delighted that he is now a healthy 18-month-old boy.
She explained that she now felt “cautious” about the idea of having a second child, but wouldn’t be completely put off.
She said: “I definitely am not racing to [have another child] very quickly. Genuinely the only reason is because I feel like I need to physically be ready for my body to go through that again.
“I still don’t feel necessarily that I’ve quite recovered from it yet, but obviously the joy of children outweighs it.”
Her advice for other people struggling with the same problem is to do whatever feels right for you.
For Manisha orange food helped and she was able to eat oranges, carrots, ginger nut biscuits and orange squash but she stressed that every woman is different.
She said: “If the only thing you can eat is a massive bar of chocolate or a Chinese takeaway, that’s what you should eat.
“You have to be selfish about it and you have to have a big support group around you.”
This young mum was driven to the brink of abortion with severe morning sickness – that made her vomit 90 times a DAY.
Earlier this year we brought you the news that women are having "needless" abortions after being denied drugs for severe morning sickness.
Meanwhile this mum-to-be suffered extreme morning sickness – causing her to vomit 20 TIMES a day.