Hyperemesis: pregnant mum loses 3 stone after being sick 60 times a day due to severe morning sickness

An expectant mum lost three stone while pregnant after being sick up to 60 times a day due to a severe morning sickness condition.

The condition also plagued Kate Middleton and has affected celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Amy Schumer and Mandy Moore.

First time mum Stacey Teakle, 30, was thrilled when she found out she was pregnant on her 28th birthday.

However, she soon found that her normal morning sickness quickly spiralled out of control.

The emergency services call operator from Neath, Wales, was diagnosed with hyperemesis.

It led to her being hospitalised six times and she was left on the verge of a heart attack before she welcomed baby Ophelia.

She said her “horrendous” experience has made her decide not to have any more kids despite her and her partners’ dreams of having multiple children.

What is hyperemesis?

Hyperemesis gravidarum is the medical term for severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Ms Teakle said the condition made her pregnancy “just awful”.

She said: “I was so unwell that I was being sick 60 times a day, I couldn’t even keep water down.

"I could barely leave my bed and my husband had to shower me - I just had no energy.”

She added: "The smell evasions I had were horrendous too, my husband wouldn’t be able to cook strong smelling foods in the kitchen, even if I was upstairs in bed, because it would trigger my sickness.

"My body went into starvation mode so my liver and kidneys started shutting down.”

Ms Teakle explained how her potassium levels got so low that she was on the verge of having a heart attack and she lost three stone in weight.

Her experience caused her and her partner to decide on not having more kids in the future.

She said: "I was so unwell, we just can’t go through that again, and it wouldn’t be fair to Ophelia either."

What happened during her pregnancy?

Stacey and husband Sam, 27, a prisoner custody officer, discovered she was pregnant on 3 February 2020.

Just one week after announcing their news to their loved ones, Stacey was hospitalised at six weeks pregnant.

Over the next few months, Stacey was repeatedly sent home when her nausea subsided and then rushed back into hospital as the repeated sickness left her weak.

She suffered gallbladder issues and became so weak that she could barely leave her bed.

On one evening, husband Sam had to call an ambulance after Stacey collapsed after a shower.

Stacey said: "Sam had just helped shower me - I basically sat in the bath tub whilst he showered me with the shower head - which he had to do multiple times as I just had no energy at all.

"He was blow drying my hair in the bedroom afterwards, and I was sat on the floor when I just fainted and ended up hitting my head on the bedside cabinet.”

She added: “That night, we counted how many times I was throwing up, and it was 60 times in a 24 hour period.

“It was horrific.”

Stacey said they called an ambulance and she was given an anti-sickness injection.

She said: "They’d already tried that in hospital and it didn’t work, I just couldn’t stop being sick."

Doctors slowly introduced more and more medication into Stacey’s system after she passed the 20 week mark of her pregnancy.

By the time she gave birth, Stacey said she was taking 19 different types of medication, including steroids.

Stacey said: "I was worried about what all these different medications would do to my baby.

"But I was having regular scans and she was doing absolutely fine so they were carefully giving me more and more drugs because I was so unwell.

She added: "It was very difficult going through that whilst in the middle of covid as I wasn’t allowed any visitors in the hospital when I was admitted.

"On one hospital stay, I ended up having a breakdown to a midwife one night about how I felt like a failure and I didn’t feel like I could go on much longer suffering like I was.

"She sat with me for the majority of her night shift, just listening to me and being there for me. Still to this day, I’m so grateful for it."

What happened during the birth?

Stacey went into labour a month early but had an emergency C section when her baby’s heart rate shot to 250bpm.

Despite how poorly Stacey was during her pregnancy, baby Ophelia was born on 21 September 2020.

However, Ophelia was rushed to NICU with low blood sugar and it was another six hours after giving birth until Stacey got to hold her baby.

Despite the traumatic birth, Stacey woke up with all nausea subsided and finally got to eat a proper meal for the first time in months - bangers and mash.

Stacey said: "I was a bit all over the shop, really, being put under suddenly and then not being able to hold Ophelia immediately, but I had support then.

"It’s funny - the first thing I said when I woke up was I don’t feel sick any more, it was just suddenly gone as if it was never there.

She added: "The first meal I had was bangers and mash in the hospital, it was genuinely the best meal I’ve ever had.

“It felt so good to finally eat again and not be sick."

What is some advice for those going through hyperemesis?

Stacey said her key advice is to “be persistent and adamant with getting help from doctors.”

She said: "A lot of nurses told me to just eat ginger biscuits - I couldn’t even keep water down.

“If you can’t fight for it yourself, have someone there who can fight for you."

Stacey added: "I’m so thankful to finally have my daughter - it’s amazing - but I do feel jealous of people who had a normal pregnancy, didn’t go through what I did and still got their baby at the end of it.

“It’s hard.”

For more information, help and advice on hyperemesis you can head to the NHS website by clicking here.