Duchess of Cambridge and effect of severe morning sickness

Women with the severe morning sickness suffered by the Duchess of Cambridge can suffer emotional distress for up to six months after pregnancy, a study suggests.

Research to be presented at a conference on hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) will highlight how women suffering from the condition feel acute distress throughout pregnancy and half a year after giving birth.

Kate was last month forced to announce her pregnancy early because she was suffering from severe morning sickness for the third time.

HG, which affects 15,000 women a year, is so relentless it is termed ‘morning, noon and night’ sickness.

Normal morning sickness affects about 70 per cent of pregnant woman, and causes some vomiting and discomfort, usually passing after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

But those suffering from HG can be constantly sick – morning, noon and night – and unable to keep any food or drink down.

Affecting up to one pregnancy in 33, it can last for the entire pregnancy, although symptoms usually lessen after five months.

The Duchess has not been admitted to hospital, as she was for three days when expecting Prince George in 2012.

She is being cared for at Kensington Palace, as she was for her second pregnancy with Princess Charlotte in 2014.

The new study, published in Archives of Women’s Mental Health, suggests the emotional impact of suffering with the problem lasts for months.

Research to be presented at a conference on hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) will highlight how women suffering from the condition feel acute distress throughout pregnancy and half a year after giving birth. Above, the royal pair with little Princess Charlotte in 2015

The authors wrote: ‘Women with HG were more likely to report emotional distress compared to women without HG during pregnancy and six months postpartum, but the difference between the groups disappeared 18 months after birth.

‘The results suggest that the increased risk of developing emotional distress may primarily be a consequence of HG.’

The condition can lead to severe dehydration and puts both mother and baby at risk of being deprived of essential nutrients.

Sufferers can be left vomiting up to 30 times a day, with exhausting and hazardous consequences.

They cannot eat or drink without retching and may lose up to 10 per cent of their body weight, which can trigger a build-up of toxins in the blood or urine known as ketosis as the body tries to compensate for lack of food by mouth.

Treatment for most women is essential, as without intravenous feeding and fluids they are at risk of becoming dangerously dehydrated.

Affecting up to one pregnancy in 33, HG can last for the entire pregnancy, although symptoms usually lessen after five months. The Duchess has not been admitted to hospital, as she was for three days when expecting Prince George in 2012

The conference on the condition, organised by Pregnancy Sickness Support and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, will examine the latest reserach into HG and available treatments.

Some 53 per cent of sufferers have difficulty accessing treatment for their condition, which can lead to dehydration, malnutrition, and hospitalisation.

Caitlin Dean, chair of the Pregnancy Sickness Support charity, said: ‘Care and treatment options for HG have improved massively in the last few years and research into the condition is finally attracting attention and tentative funding.

‘Research to be presented today demonstrates the mental health effect of this condition can be profound and doesn’t always end when the baby is born but can persist for years after.’

Clare Murphy, director of external affairs at BPAS, added: ‘HG can be an extremely serious condition, and for far too long women were expected to simply “put up” with their debilitating symptoms.

‘Women should have access to the full range of treatments available and above all be trusted and believed when they describe a level of nausea and vomiting affecting their ability to get on with their everyday lives.’