Can HG cause miscarriage?
When you’re sick as a hungover millennial on New Year’s Day, unable to eat or drink normally and not keeping down your prenatal vitamins it’s understandable that you would worry about the health of your growing baby. Whether or not you’ve experienced infant loss, the idea of miscarrying is terrifying and heartbreaking. A question we get asked a lot is whether hyperemesis gravidarum or NVP can cause miscarriage.
Our friends at Pregnancy Sickness Support have conducted a thorough review of most of the literature around HG. This review can be accessed via their website and is a wealth of information on HG, treatments, causes and long term outcomes for both mother and baby. Part of this review includes studies on the incidence of miscarriage in mothers suffering from HG and NVP.
While nothing can be stated definitively, the current research is positive and indicates there is no additional risk to HG mothers. In fact, the review suggests that mother’s with NVP or HG actually have a reduced risk of miscarrying. So, in short - no, hyperemesis gravidarum does not generally cause miscarriage. There are always exceptions to the rule but hopefully, this research comforts you.
If you have experienced the loss of a baby, our friend Ami Summers has created a wonderful space for you to receive advice and support. Whether you’d like to read the stories of other women who’ve had a similar experience, would like to access her free resources for working through your emotions or would like to purchase her book please visit Heart Space.
The Red Nose website is also full of helpful information for ways to ensure a healthy pregnancy and what to do if you experience pregnancy loss. We recommend checking out all their resources and then familiarising yourself with safe pregnancy practices. They’ve also got all the up-to-date information on how to safely take care of your baby once they are here.
As always, if you have any additional questions or would like to speak to one of the HGA team please get in touch.