During her pregnancy, this mother experienced constant nausea and vomiting. Helpless in the face of the violent symptoms and the lack of answers from doctors, she recounted her traumatic experience to raise awareness of this little-known condition which affects some pregnant women.
Expecting a baby can be a completely different experience from one woman to another. While some people experience their pregnancy very well and do not experience any complications, for others it is quite the opposite. And sometimes, this can go so far as to live through real hell for the mother-to-be. This is what we experienced Aizhan Yesbolatova, today the mother of a three-year-old little girl. The latter recounted her ordeal to Huffington Post.
The young woman tried to have a baby for almost three years. After trying everything, she discovered her pregnancy with surprise, but above all with immense joy that her dream was finally coming true. Unfortunately, she quickly became disillusioned when her morning sickness turned into a nightmare.
The rest after this ad
Intolerable symptoms
It’s no secret that pregnant women experience nausea, mainly in the morning, during the first months of pregnancy. Generally, they dissipate after this period. But for Aizhan Yesbolatova, things did not happen like that. Only a week after confirming her pregnancy with the gynecologist, the situation became dramatic. “I was sick every day, all day. I couldn’t eat anything. My nausea was so extreme that it didn’t take long before I stopped eating altogether”, explained the mother. After a week, she couldn’t get out of bed. Her husband eventually took her to the emergency room where she was put on a drip. And there she received no comfort: “I felt like I was dyingbut everyone was like, ‘It happens all the time’ or ‘Unfortunately, it’s just part of being pregnant.’”.
The rest after this ad
After just 12 weeks, Aizhan Yesbolatova lost almost four kilos. During the second trimester, when the nausea is supposed to disappear, nothing helped. “Sometimes I vomited 20 times in one morning”, said the young woman. She tried everything the doctors advised her to do without success. She quickly fell into a depressed state as she was unable to do the simplest things like taking a shower alone. Eventually, after 18 weeks of hell, her gynecologist diagnosed hyperemesis gravidarum. This is a condition causing severe and excessive vomiting that leads to weight loss and dehydration. This condition can threaten the lives of both mother and fetus.
The rest after this ad
A lack of research and recognition
According to the Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation, between 1 and 3% of pregnant women are affected by this condition. This is particularly the case of Kate Middleton who helped to highlight hyperemesis gravidarum. If when the diagnosis was announced, Aizhan Yesbolatova felt relieved to put a name to this illness, she was once again disillusioned. For what ? Because there is no treatment. His doctor prescribed a combination of several medications to try to calm the symptoms. At first, she slept 20 hours a day. Then, she managed to eat some foods like bread, lemon sorbet or macaroni. Despite everything, she was still too weak to have a normal life. “I was dejected to think that so many scientific discoveries have been made, but when it comes to hyperemesis gravidarum, medicine has remained in the Middle Ages.”, she explained.
The rest after this ad
If during her pregnancy, Aizhan Yesbolatova was able to count on the support of her husband and her parents, many did not give credit to her disabling nausea: “They didn’t really believe that my condition was so terrible. They thought I was being dramatic or seeking attention.” Faced with this resistance, she was completely shocked that so few people knew about this phenomenon in pregnant women.
A hope against hyperemesis gravidarum
This traumatic experience changed Aizhan Yesbolatova’s life and her desires for the future. “I always wanted three children, but my mind and body are repulsed by the idea of being pregnant again and I don’t know if I will accept this nightmare again to have a second child”, said the mother. Despite everything, there might be hope.
The rest after this ad
After much research on the subject, Aizhan Yesbolatova came across a new scientific study that gave her some hope. Published by Nature in December 2023, it reveals thata specific hormone, GDF15, has been identified as the cause of morning sickness in pregnant women. For researchers, successfully blocking this hormone could be the answer for those suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum. A major discovery!
Editor
Passionate about issues of feminism and society, Allison puts her pen to work on current events for Aufeminin. It covers a wide range of themes to provide you with…