At first Atlanta McIntyre thought she had routine morning sickness during her pregnancy with her second child. But as her pregnancy went on, the 29-year-old from Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, said she was “constantly” vomiting and she realised something wasn’t right.
It transpired Atlanta had developed hyperemesis gravidarum – an extreme form of morning sickness which causes you to vomit several times a day and can cause complications during pregnancy. Atlanta vomited so much doctors told her she had aspirated and it had got on her lungs which resulted in pneumonia.
Her condition eventually became so difficult to manage she was put into an induced coma before her baby daughter Poppy was urgently delivered while she was still unconscious. Atlanta, who said it had been a traumatic pregnancy which she is still recovering from, now wants to speak about her experience to help other parents spot the potential early signs of extreme sickness during pregnancy.
“I want to speak about it because I do feel that during my pregnancy it was brushed off as just morning sickness,” she explained. “It started quite normally.
“Smells would set me off but it progressed further and further to the point where after eight weeks it was every meal and after 14 weeks it was liquid. I couldn’t keep anything down and was in and out of hospital weekly with dehydration and dizziness.
“I was told it was bad morning sickness. But it wasn’t just morning sickness. It was horrendous. I lost over two stone during my pregnancy and I knew it wasn’t right. In the end I ended up choking on my own vomit because I was vomiting so much and I ended up in a coma before my daughter was delivered urgently at just 29 weeks.”
