Morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum, an intensification of the former, are difficult conditions to bear. Emma Michelsen of Daisy is attempting to alleviate the symptoms.
Morning sickness has always been an odd turn of phrase.
Those who have experienced its effects will know that the nausea (and in some cases
Instead, the illness can linger from sunrise to sundown, interrupting much more than brunch plans.
Worse still is hyperemesis gravidarum, a medical condition that induces severe nausea and vomiting, in some cases to the point of hospitalisation.
In Aotearoa, it occurs in 1 to 2% of pregnancies, leading to dehydration, weight loss and nutrient depletion, not to mention the myriad impacts on maternal mental health.
Mum of two Emma Michelsen knows how debilitating life with hyperemesis gravidarum can be, having experienced it to a severe degree in both of her pregnancies.
“I felt a real sense of isolation, along with a lack of support and awareness — I really struggled to feel heard and seen. I had 20 admissions during each pregnancy, and every time I’d have to retell my story it felt like I had to sell my symptoms to them,” Emma says.
“Each time I would go, I’d just be getting fluids because there’s very limited medication you can have while pregnant.”
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Advertise with NZME.As a result, Emma and her partner relocated from Australia to New Zealand, where they moved in with her family for additional support.
Outside of hospital, Emma spent much of her time horizontal — bed-bound but with phone in hand, researching ways to feel better.
Her fruitless search made Emma realise how little support there was for people experiencing HG, even after the nausea and vomiting subsides post-partum.
With her two children now aged 6 and 8, the extent of Emma’s illness has had a long tail and she says she carries a lot of PTSD from those two phases of her life.
“It still impacts me now. I can’t cope with any sort of vomiting bug. It was a really traumatic thing to have to go through, and there were a lot of touch points it reached without me realising at the time,” Emma says.
“It’s something I don’t ever wish upon other people.”
So started Emma’s quest to develop a supplement brand that helped ease nausea in pregnancy. Through her research, she stumbled upon gingerol — a potent part of the ginger root touted to alleviate nausea.
The problem was, Emma later found out, no products were currently on the market that provided a therapeutic dose of the good stuff to be an effective treatment to use while experiencing HG. With the support of leading PhD nutritionists at Massey University, Emma founded Daisy.
Drawing on their wealth of knowledge was an integral part of the process for Emma, who acknowledges she doesn’t come from a nutrition or food science background.
“They had such brilliant knowledge around the women’s health space that they were able to support and guide me in that process. With dietary supplements you have to be really cautious of the claims you can make – especially when it’s an over-the-counter product,” Emma says.
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Advertise with NZME.This culminated in the launch of Daisy’s first product Morning Relief, a water-soluble powder designed to remedy the effects of morning sickness and fend off dehydration with its blend of ginger root extract, vitamin B6 and sodium.
People are often recommended ginger when experiencing nausea or vomiting, but Emma says for those suffering from hyperemesis, being told to chew ginger feels like a slap in the face.
“Women are very sick of being told to take ginger, and it almost can be a bit of a trigger,” she says.
“A few things have been popping up on social media around when women are told just to take ginger. But for us, we’re able to make claims around the gingerol content based off our clinical studies* that prove its efficacy. It’s been quite a tricky message to get across.”
Together with electrolytes, Emma says Morning Relief supports people so they don’t get to the point of dehydration. “One of the leading causes of hospitalisations in pregnancy is dehydration. We’re trying to stop that cycle where if you feel dehydrated, you feel nauseous,” Emma says.
Emma says she wants the product to be inclusive for anyone with any level of morning sickness symptoms.
“If you’re suffering from any form of nausea, vomiting and dehydration, this covers all of those symptoms. Morning Relief doesn’t just cater to those with hyperemesis gravidarum,” Emma says, but adds it’s important that those with extreme cases should always contact their medical professional.
“A woman suffering terribly when they cannot keep anything down needs hospital treatment as well. I don’t want to ever put someone in a position where they’re not reaching out for that extra support, because it is out there, you just need to push for it. I hope we can be another tool in a pregnant woman’s toolbox to get through it.”
The debilitating effects of HG is something mum-of-two Brittany Webber knows all too well, having experienced it for 36 and 39 weeks in both of her pregnancies.
“It’s all-consuming,” she says, adding she developed the first signs of HG around the five-to-six-week mark whilst pregnant with her two sons.
During her pregnancy with her now six-year-old son, Archie, Brittany was offered anti-nausea medication like ondansetron by her midwife but found she couldn’t take it.
“I wasn’t on any medication for my first pregnancy with HG. I would just go down to my local A&E for fluids without needing to go to hospital,” she says.
The severity of her vomiting and nausea meant Brittany was bedridden for six months. “The best way to manage the vomiting was to stay horizontal. I didn’t know what else to do,” she says.
“My midwife just said this was my reality.”
Pregnant for the second time with her son Felix, 3, and desperate for more support, Brittany got an obstetrician. They prescribed steroids to keep the nausea and vomiting at bay.
While it reduced the frequency of vomiting, it came with the side effect of weight gain — and Brittany put on 25kg.
“At that point, I didn’t care. I was so desperate to manage the nausea and vomiting I was willing to do anything,” she says.
“A lot of people lose weight, but because of the steroid, I gained it. Food alleviated the nausea for me. I would snack all day. That was the only thing I could do to survive.”
Bedridden once more, Brittany’s mum had to leave her job to care for Archie, and her husband had to work part-time.
If she stood up or did too much activity, the vomiting would return.
Thanks to her robust support system, Brittany says her mental health didn’t suffer dramatically. Although she says she felt very isolated at times.
“Your life just stops. Everyone’s life keeps going and you are lying in bed for six months,” she says.
“There were moments where I was ready to give up the pregnancy because I didn’t know how to survive another day like that.”
Back then, options were limited to manage HG, but Brittany says she would have been open to trying Daisy had it been available six years ago.
“I would have checked with my GP and OB before taking it, but I can guarantee you I would have been open to any possible treatment created for HG,” Brittany says.
“This isn’t just morning sickness. This is a medical condition.”
Emma’s passion for research hasn’t waned, and she continues to remain abreast of the developments in the HG space in medical studies overseas.
One such development is a recent deep-dive by the international journal Nature into the hormone GDF15 in pregnancy, which suggests an increased propensity for HG. It revealed GDF15 is generated by the placenta and other pregnancy-adjacent tissues, and is linked to nausea, vomiting, changes in appetite and taste preferences.
The journal shed light on a study that proposes moderating GDF15 levels pre-pregnancy as a means of preventing HG, but states more extensive research is required to confirm these findings.
Moving forward, Emma is excited to grow the Daisy brand by adding products that support maternal mental health in the future. While she says awareness is much greater than it was when she was pregnant, there’s still a way to go.
“I think we can look to the likes of the UK and the US where they are starting to have brilliant initiatives like clinics to support those suffering from HG. In Australia, there are programmes where they offer in-home support,” Emma says.
“We’re slowly starting to see some traction, but different hospitals all treat HG differently. The mental health side of it is a really big area that needs more support, research and funding.”
*Independent clinical trials showed an 87.5 per cent reduction in symptoms associated with hyperemesis.
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