‘Don’t suffer in silence’: Mum shares horror pregnancy journey

Young mum Jess said she felt alone and scared throughout her entire pregnancy due to a mysterious condition most doctors still know little about. Meet one of Toowoomba’s inspirational mums.

First time mum, Jess Reading shares her horrific pregnancy journey with her one-year-old son Oscar. Ms Reading suffered a rare condition during pregnancy called hyperemesis gravidarum, which would cause her to have uncontrollable bouts of vomiting for hours at a time. Pictures: Kate McCormack

Most pregnancy content on social media is full of beautiful bumps, glowing hair and skin.

But this could not have been further from what young mother Jess Reading experienced when she became pregnant with her first child last year.

“I suffered through my entire pregnancy with a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum which is basically like having the worst imaginable morning sickness throughout the entire nine months,” she said.

Jess Reading suffered with hyperemesis gravidarum throughout her pregnancy with her son Oscar, who is now one.

“The vomiting used to get so severe sometimes I actually tore ligaments and lining in my stomach and the back of my throat would bleed and I’d be lying on the bathroom floor for hours waiting for the episode to go away.”

Though relatively rare, hyperemesis has become more known in recently following Princess Kate’s difficult pregnancies and celebrities like Amy Schumer bringing the condition into the limelight.

“I’d never heard of anyone with this condition. I didn’t even know this was a possibility with pregnancy so I felt very alone and scared most of the time,” Ms Reading said.

A former make-up artist, Ms Reading left work 18 weeks into her pregnancy because she was no longer able to get through a shift without a vomiting episode.

“It was very hard on my mental health. I was definitely the lowest I’ve ever been. I felt like I was failing because my body couldn’t do this one thing of growing a child while still being able to do all of the normal every day things I needed to do to go about my life,” she said.

“I lost all of my independence and I just kind of shut down. I never left the house or saw friends because I ever knew when a vomiting episode was going to happen.”

Experts currently don’t know what causes hyperemesis or how to cure it.

It took Ms Reading several different appointments with a number of doctors and specialists before she found someone who took her condition seriously.

“I was on 10 different types of medications a day to try and manage it and then being hospitalised three to four times a week to be put on IV fluid for severe dehydration and the worst part was having people tell me things like ‘oh you’ll be fine, it’s just morning sickness don’t be so dramatic’,” she said.

Ms Reading gave birth to a beautiful baby boy Oscar, now one-year-old and thriving.

Despite the horror nine months leading up to the delivery, Ms Reading said she’d go through it all again.

“I hope by sharing my story more mothers going through something similar will know they aren’t alone,” she said.

“If you feel like you’re not being heard by your doctors definitely advocate for yourself.

“You don’t have to suffer through it in silence.”