A MUM who was tube-fed for eight weeks of her pregnancy and hospitalised ten times says the ordeal left her with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Alison Hudson was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition that causes severe sickness and left her unable to stomach even tiny sips of water.
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She now wants to help raise awareness of the illness — which also put the Duchess of Cambridge in hospital — particularly for those struggling in lockdown.
Alison, 44, who was in hospital for four and a half of the eight months she was pregnant, says: “Too often the condition is pushed aside as ‘morning sickness’ but it’s much more than that.
“I was lucky to have an amazing consultant and to be cared for mostly by compassionate doctors.
“I felt I was failing as a mother before my baby was even born.”
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Alison, from Twickenham, South West London, found out she was expecting son Caden, now five, in September 2014.
She and husband Greg, 43, were thrilled as they had been trying for a baby for a while, but she adds: “By the time I was five weeks pregnant, I was being sick.
“I was working on a reception desk at the time. Towards the end of the sixth week, I got home one evening and was so ill for the next 48 hours, I couldn’t keep anything down, even water. Greg was worried and convinced me to make a GP appointment.
“The doctor said morning sickness was normal and sent me away with a prescription for a mild anti-sickness drug.
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“While waiting at the pharmacy I was holding my sick bowl as I was still being unwell and had to sit down.”
A nurse spotted Alison and asked if she was OK, assuming she was being admitted to hospital.
She says: “When I said I was waiting for a taxi home, the nurse went to speak to the doctor. She returned with a note telling me to go straight to A&E at Kingston Hospital, where tests revealed I was severely dehydrated.
“I stayed in for three hours and was given two bags of fluid and an injection for the sickness.
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“I was told it should die down in around 14 weeks.”
The next day Alison struggled in to work on the train. By 11am she was being sick and was sent home.
Two days later she was admitted to hospital for seven days and diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum. The condition affects around two per cent of women and causes severe dehydration, which can be dangerous for mother and baby.
Alison says: “Scans showed the baby was developing fine. By the time I left hospital I could eat a little. The next day, I was back in A&E again. I’d spend a couple of days in hospital, then I’d go home before being admitted again.”
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Alison was given stronger medication and steroids but nothing helped. After her 20-week scan, doctors feared for her health and at 21 weeks she was back in hospital again and put on a feeding tube.
She says: “I felt such guilt. I wanted to eat normally and nourish my growing baby but I couldn’t.
“I had regular scans which were reassuring. I was worried about the baby but he was strong. It was then we decided if the baby was a boy we’d name him Caden, meaning ‘little fighter’.”
Alison’s weight plummeted from 10st to 7st 7lb by 21 weeks. By 29 weeks, she was managing one small meal a day and some fruit, so she was sent home.
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The plan was to have a Caesarean, but at 33 weeks the sickness was so severe she was admitted to hospital. She says: “I was given medication to bring my blood pressure down but two days later we decided to go for an induction.” Alison was induced at 34 weeks but ended up having an emergency C-section. Caden was born healthy, weighing 5lb 2oz.
She says: “I was warned not to be alarmed if he wasn’t crying when he was born. When they lifted him up he was screaming.
“It was the best noise I’d heard in my life. Apart from slight jaundice, he was fine.
“Almost immediately, I didn’t feel nauseous. For the first time in seven and a half months I gulped down a glass of water and ate a cheese sandwich. I was on a high.”
For a few months, Alison felt well. Her family visited from South Africa but when Caden was around nine months old she was diagnosed with postpartum anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder — PTSD.
She says: “I hit rock bottom. Everything that happened during the pregnancy began to affect me. I felt anxious all the time.”
Alison received assistance from the charity Pregnancy Sickness Support and is now volunteering for them herself.
She says: “I found the charity at the end of my pregnancy and had a volunteer supporting me.
“When Caden turned two, I felt strong enough to be a volunteer myself. I love that I’m able to reassure other women with HG that, although having the condition is really hard, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”
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