Dear family and friends,
You've all heard mention a time or two (or fifty) that my pregnancies were difficult. You may not have ever heard the name of the disease that made pregnancy a dangerous proposition for me and our boys. It is called Hyperemesis Gravidarum. HG is the reason that I had to stop working for months during my pregnancies, was on IVs and multiple anti-emetic medications through delivery, with both boys. HG is the reason that I was malnourished during and long after my pregnancies. HG is the reason that our family size will be limited to the two amazing boys we have now, and HG is the reason that I will always be sad when I remember my pregnancies rather than nostalgic as most mothers are.
While my HG was "mild to moderate" in that it was managed by medications and changes to my home environment, and occasional IV hydration, it is not always so. I have known women through the forums at
www.hyperemesis.org who have had feeding tubes placed, second trimester miscarriages and nearly lost their own lives due to HG. We had a forum member who was pregnant with twins in 2005 who actually did lose her life, along with that of both of the babies, to complications from HG. Marie, her babies, and her dear husband George who shared her illness and then subsequent tragedy with us will forever be in our hearts. While most women will question even a Tylenol during pregnancy, those of us who are faced with HG must often question multiple medications taken to simply survive our pregnancies and meet their children. HG has touched me more deeply than I can ever hope to put into words.
Now for a request. Educating the public and healthcare professionals about HG is key, and is a primary mission of the Hyperemesis Education and Research Foudnation of which I am a part. Many womens’ course of illness, their medical care, and even decisions they feel forced to make could be different if they only had known about HG when they were pregnant. Dr. Goodwin, an OB/GYN from California who serves as our medical advisor for the Foundation, estimates that worldwide one woman dies DAILY from complications related to Hyperemesis Gravidarum. I would like to believe none of those women are in supposedly developed countries, but that is simply not true. And beyond the women in the most extreme cases, there are tens of thousands of women who simply just don’t know that what they are experiencing is NOT normal morning sickness. If they were to know, then they would not have had to suffer to the degree that they are. If only somebody would tell them that the illness that they are enduring is not normal, perhaps they can better explain to friends and family what was going on so that they could have the practical support that would make the pregnancy at least a bit easier to bear. If you can take a few hours out of this weekend, you can arm yourself with enough knowledge about HG to help the woman that you will one day encounter who has not yet been told that she has HG and that there are treatments available that are safe for both mother and baby.
You may recall earlier this year when I sent a request to many of you to tune in to Dr. Phil to watch a segment that had a tie to HG. Now, the HER Foundation is getting direct exposure about Hyperemesis Gravidarum, not just as a sidebar to another story, and from a major network’s mainstream news programs. The amount of work that has gone into reaching this level of media attention is immeasurable, as I am sure you can appreciate.
The founders of The Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation (
www.hyperemesis.org) are being interviewed for two national news stories on HG this weekend. Jeremy and Ann Marie King will be on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams Friday evening. The Today Show will have a follow up story on Saturday morning. Kimber MacGibbon will be interviewed at that time.
Please tune in to one or both segments so you can learn more about HG, and please also let your own friends and family know about these news stories so they can also tune in. Doing so may allow you to save a life.
Much Love to All,
Clare