I originally wrote this as a LinkedIn post, in hopes to reach the medical practitioners working with pregnant women, but I received such a tremendous response that I am sharing it here so it can be shared indefinitely. Here’s to improving care of women with Hyperemesis Gravidarum!
My medical records when I was #pregnant at 8 wks, 17 wks and 21 wks. (Yes – before the military used an EHR system 😉) I continued to suffer from malnourishment through the 9 months.
* Telling a woman with #hyperemesis gravidarum to drink more fluids without a plan is NOT medical care.
* Giving an IV of NS until she stops vomiting and then sending her home is NOT medical care.
* Prescribing a Phenergan suppository made me comatose for 10-12 hrs/day. I wasn’t vomiting, but I wasn’t living either.
***Why am I still seeing thousands of women now being treated like I was 20 years ago?
✔️ Now treatment algorithms and education are an easy click away at www.hyperemesis.org/tools
✔️ #pharmacogenetics should guide medication therapy as well. *Most antiemetics are either antihistamines, antipsychotics or antidepressants and have a plethora of #drug-drug interactions and #adverse events
✔️ Supplementing vitamins including banana bags with high dose #thiamin and replenishing depleted #electrolytes should be a standard of care, as we also are at high risk for #Wernickes Encephalopathy
✔️ Home health with pumps and infusions are readily available, allowing us to continue working, to take care of our family and household and to avoid repeat hospital visits and stay away from contagions in the hospital like Covid
✔️ Options showing promise now being studied include #gabapentin, #cannabis and much else
✔️ Many routes are available including Zofran/Reglan pumps, granisetron (Sancuso) patches and compounded creams to include ondansetron (Zofran), metoclopramide (Reglan) and promethazine(Phenergan)
We can do better! Our women deserve better!
Pregnant women with nausea and vomiting need to improve their quality of life. Most do not qualify for #FMLA, which only covers 13 wks, 1 in 3 of these pregnancies do NOT make it to term, and many have lost their own lives due to lack of belief and understanding. www.hyperemesis.org/1mom/
In addition to medication options, create:
✔️ A nutrition plan
✔️ A mental health plan
✔️ A financial plan
Telling a pregnant woman with extreme nausea and vomiting to drink more water is like telling:
- a chemotherapy patient to stop vomiting or
- an alcoholic to stop drinking alcohol or
- a diabetic to stop eating sugar or
- a malnourished child to eat more green vegetables
…their condition will not improve without a solid medical plan in place.
I am urging the #medical community to stop saying it’s fine because you’re pregnant. We are missing treatment in early pregnancy that may prevent long term complications in the mom and #baby due to outdated beliefs. #maternalmortality is now double that of any other developed country. The short and long term consequences of a healthy pregnancy starts early.
Please do your part in improving care for pregnant women. 🤞🏻
