Norah Mutanu: My struggle with Hyperemesis gravidarum

Hyperemesis gravidarum is a complication of pregnancy that affects a woman’s health, including homeostasis, electrolytes, and kidney function and may have adverse fetal consequences.

According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), it is classified among the pregnancy complications. It is mainly characterized by constant uncontrollable nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, leading to severe dehydration, fatigue, light-headedness, anxiety, hypersalivation and weight loss.

This has been the case with Norah Mutanu, an expectant mother in Machakos County whose symptoms started during the sixth week of her second pregnancy.

“People say every pregnancy is different, but I knew something was wrong because I would experience nausea and vomiting at least 15 times a day regardless of whether I have eaten or not,” she narrates.

She was unable to keep any food or fluids down, would vomit stomach acid and experienced body weakness, saying she lost 20 pounds in just three weeks and that she was hypersalivating and severely dehydrated.

Mutanu was therefore admitted to the hospital at least three times for the doctors to monitor her situation, to ensure the safety of the pregnancy and to reduce the severity of some of the symptoms.

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If not well treated, medics say that it may cause adverse effects, including neurologic disturbances such as Wernicke encephalopathy, central pontine myelinolysis, and even maternal death.

A person with hyperemesis gravidarum can require hospitalization and treatment with IV fluids and anti-nausea medication.

“The oral medication did not work for me, so I managed the symptoms by frequently visiting the hospital to try and control the condition through IV hydration,” says Mutanu.

This condition also causes distress, including time lost from work and decreased quality of life and can also strain one’s resources.

This greatly affected Mutanu’s work output; she could barely go to work or care for herself or her toddler, who needed her most of the time.

She says there were days she would be overcome with emotions out of her helplessness and the fact that she could not even get out of bed and do simple chores around her house.

Another way of managing hyperemesis gravidarum is through dietary supplements.

Studies focused on the reasons some pregnant mothers develop hyperemesis have not shown any particular cause. Still, they may be attributed to hormones, gastrointestinal dysfunction, nutritional deficiencies and or allergies, among other causes.

Further, this condition does not only affect the mother but the infants may be born prematurely, be too small for their gestational age or have low birth weight.

Nutritionists advise women with this complication to modify the size of meals consumed throughout the day to help relieve the symptoms.

This also includes having smaller amounts of food and fluids more often, as they can help prevent mild cases of nausea and vomiting from worsening and having lighter snacks like nuts, beans and dairy products.

Mutanu says one of the misconceptions about hyperemesis gravidarum is that it is just the usual morning sickness that a woman may get during her pregnancy, and therefore, some may go untreated.

“I thank my family for being supportive and stepping up when I could not help myself. This is because I know some women may have been dismissed by family members as being overly dramatic during their pregnancy, and this is why I spoke about my condition to help enlighten them and seek help.”