Creating a safe Space for the Silenced Reality of HG.

There’s a quiet kind of suffering that doesn’t always make it to the cute baby shower photos or the cheerful pregnancy announcements. It usually happens in dim hospital rooms, on bathroom floors, in isolation—behind closed doors where the body becomes a battlefield.

This is the reality of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). And more than a medical condition, HG is an erasure—of dignity, and often, of the woman behind the symptoms.

HG Is Not Just a Diagnosis—It's a Disruption of Self

HG doesn’t just make it hard to eat or function—it pulls a woman into survival mode. Every day becomes a negotiation between what the body needs and what it can’t tolerate. In that space, joy becomes a concept, not a feeling. Time moves strangely. And often, the woman disappears in the eyes of others, reduced to test results and IV bags.

💬 Why Language Fails Us

Even our words fall short.

“Sick.”

“Nauseous.”

“Tired.”

are often not enough. They can’t hold the weight of waking up each day with dread because your body won’t let you keep water down. They don’t capture the helplessness of being misunderstood, even by those who love you. They don’t reflect the silent grief of detachment—from your body, from the pregnancy you hoped would be different, from yourself. When a woman with HG says, “I don’t feel like myself,” it’s not just the vomiting. It’s the loss of autonomy. The feeling that no one truly understands how bad it really is.

To be dismissed in that space is more than hurtful—it’s dehumanizing. This is where support must shift from comfort to presence.

Not “you’ll feel better soon,”

but “I believe you. I’m here, even if I can’t fix it.”

🧩 What Support Actually Looks Like

Support is not always a casserole or a bouquet of flowers. Sometimes it's checking in without expecting a reply. Sometimes it’s just saying, “You don’t owe anyone strength right now.”

Support means creating a space where her experience can exist without needing to be softened, explained, or made palatable.

🪞 Reflections for the Reader

If you’ve never had HG, ask yourself:

• When have I seen someone’s pain and looked away?

• What part of me resists the truth of deep, invisible suffering?

• How can I be someone who doesn’t flinch at other people’s truth?

Because the world will change for HG survivors when more of us choose to bear witness, not just offer sympathy.

From Bed to Birth is not just a blog. It is a testimony that even in the most hidden places, your suffering matters—and it deserves to be seen.