After watching Maggie Howell on the 6 o’clock news it inspired me to write a blog about my experience with morning sickness and the amazing Natal Hypnotherapy that seems to be helping women through most of the issues that come up in pregnancy, birth and postnatally.
Ok, so firstly let’s rename this little side-effect of pregnancy to ‘sick-as-a-dog’, no, ‘sick-as-a-sick-dog’, hold on, ‘sick-as-a-sick-fat-dog’ PERFECT.
This sickness does not only happen in the morning, your body can decide to vomit at any given point during the day or night. Yes, for some of us it even happens when we sleep (and heaving your bump out of bed at 2 in the morning to try and make it to the bathroom is not an easy task).
I remember being 8 weeks pregnant and having to meet my new boss “Hi I am Carly, I will be completing all of the financial analysis on your projects, therefore allowing you to see where we can improve our services and …. Oh hold on, just have to.…” Nearly tripping over the strategically placed bin next to me and legging it to the ladies! I was signed off work and ended up being away from the office for about 3 weeks, throwing up around 8 times a day and feeling sick constantly. I lost a stone and a half, burst all the blood vessels around my eyes from the pressure of retching, and regularly threw up blood from the damage to my throat.
At 10 weeks I was put on tablets to help and after a couple of weeks of trying different types we eventually found something that worked and took down the sickness to only about 4 times a day. As the pregnancy went on the sickness reduced to once a day and I could reduce the dosage of medicine I had to take.
When Kate Middleton was taken in to have her ‘sick-as-a-sick-fat-dog’ treated I can remember feeling real sympathy but also wondering if she had ever asked William to make sure that he didn’t drip on the toilet seat (THE most infuriating bad habit when someone in the house has to spend half their day with their head down the loo). It is reported that she is using hypnotherapy to help with her sickness and I wonder if this is how she is managing to get back on track. On the News there was a new mum explaining how she had suffered and that after talking her options through with her Doula she was referred to Natal Hypnotherapy (Natal Hypnotherapy is accredited by the Royal College of Midwives). There are a ‘range of CDs and book to enhance your pregnancy and birth experience, by using your natural skills and inner resources. The CDs use a combination of self hypnosis techniques, deep relaxation and guided visualization to help you overcome fears, create a state of calm and relaxation, maintain your health, increase bonding with your baby and maximise your bodies potential’*
So the next time a pregnant woman mentions that she isn’t feeling great and is a little nauseous maybe take a little more time to look after her, let her sit down and rest, fetch her a snack and a glass of water, oh and take a big step back….
*Quote taken from Natal Hypnotherapy website – www.natalhypnotherapy.co.uk