A North-West London rebbetzin who struggled with hyperemesis gravidarum through her seven pregnancies has set up a support group for other Jewish women affected by the rare disorder, which causes severe and persistent nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
The debilitating condition often results in hospitalisation and Ruthie Halberstadt, wife of Rabbi Ilan Halberstadt, says clinicians “often don’t know or care enough about the condition to advise women of the things they can do to cope”.
She was forced to undertake a significant amount of research and “explored many treatment options to help alleviate the symptoms”.
Mrs Halberstadt and three fellow sufferers have now launched a support website, hghelp.co.uk.
While the condition itself does not affect Jewish women more than those in the wider population, Mrs Halberstadt said she had “felt a deep need to find answers to spiritual questions like what can this experience teach? And what is the point of suffering?”
Having a Jewish network to support her was key to her “surviving” the condition and she wants other women in the community to have access to the same framework.
“It is something I am really passionate about,” she said. “I hate the idea there might be Jewish women out there put off having more children if they want them because they suffered with HG.
“The trauma of going through it the first time makes women feel they couldn’t do it again and I want them to have the right support and treatment so they can get through it.”
As well as providing spiritual back-up, the website offers practical advice on how to cope with the condition, including information about safe medicines to take and how women with HG can prepare for future pregnancies.
“I think a lot of women feel scared to take medicines and worry they aren’t safe. But there are things that they can take that will help them and prevent the sickness taking over.
“There are practical things they can think about like planning extra support with childcare or getting people to cook for them outside the home to limit the exposure to food smells, which can be really difficult for women who are suffering.”
There is also a WhatsApp group with more than 30 members.
“I am a doctor’s daughter so it came naturally to me to want to get help and answers for what I was experiencing.
“HG isn’t just like morning sickness and it is often dismissed as that by medical professionals.
“Women who are suffering often get dismissed because it is seen as a healthy sickness. If the baby is OK, then they tend not to worry about you.
“But that doesn’t make sense because women can get really ill and end up in hospital needing IV fluids because they literally cannot keep anything down.”
She had experienced “relentless and debilitating” sickness throughout her pregnancies which made working and caring for her family an “impossible challenge. You need to implement some crisis management at that stage.
“I wanted to set up a place where women and their families can come and find the information they need. You aren’t going to cure HG but there are things that can be done to make it more manageable.”
One thing was finding a doctor willing to visit a sufferer at home to top up their fluids. She has teamed up with the private GP service, JDoc, for this purpose. The group also plans to help women unable to afford the treatment through a gemach fund.
“It can cost £100 a time and it can be advisable to have it twice a week in HG pregnancies,” Mrs Halberstadt explained.
“It really helped me and I want it to be there to help others.”
Janice Sugarman, who assisted her in establishing the group, hoped it would be a “real lifeline” to families in need.
“I don’t think people know how hard it can be, especially for women who already have families to support at home.
“It can put a lot of pressure on women in their pregnancy when it is so important for them not to be under any stress. The group is there to take some of that away.”
