3D Printers...Still No Treatment For Morning Sickness?!!
I found the latest episode of Call the Midwife really interesting last night. It had a storyline in it following a pregnant mother of a toddler who had Hyperemesis gravidarum. Obviously back then there was a lot less that doctors could do and a lot more talk of "mind over matter."
The storyline ended in that episode with the doctor prescribing her Thalidomide, an anti-emetic.
Now most people would have been left screaming "No! Don't give it to her!" at the TV.
It is well documented in history that this particular drug, although stopping morning sickness caused babies to be born with malformed limbs. It is known as one of the darkest episodes in pharmaceutical history.
I thought Call the Midwife handled the episode in quite an interesting way. They placed emphasis on just how debilitating the morning sickness was. the woman couldn't even cook her toddler food because she was vomiting up to 20 times a day. She became dehydrated and eventually collapsed. So when the doctor does find the new drug for her, the audience is breathing a sigh of relief just a little bit, in spite of any futuristic knowledge they posses.
Yay! She won't die now!
Considering the history of the drug I would have expected the series to take the story from a different view and focus on how they should never have used a new drug that hadn't been tested enough but that was barely mentioned. Kevin thinks that will come up in a later episode.
If you look at the propaganda around morning sickness and that constant "You don't want to harm the baby" shot back against any complaint that comes with pregnancy, I am surprised that the series showed just how bad morning sickness can be.
I'm glad they did.
I never thought about having children until I got married.
It just wasn't really on my radar. I've never been a baby person. I do want children of my own, I've just never been hugely fascinated with other people's kids...sorry.
Now because I hadn't thought about having kids until I was married and 28, I'd also never considered the elements of childbearing that comes with the package. Researching delivery and the pain of it was one thing (I sobbed over One Born Every Minute - and NOT because of the miracle of birth. I was weeping over the horrors I was seeing and the fact that I may have to face it one day - delivery looks traumatic!)
Looking into morning sickness frightened the life out of me. I have a hatred of vomiting as it is, to the point that I would choose severe pain over throwing up. But I had always just assumed there was some sort of cure for morning sickness, some remedy. Or that perhaps morning sickness really is mind over matter and you can stop yourself actually being sick and you just go around feeling mildly nauseous for a few days.
Apparently not.
From what I've heard, it seems to me that for the majority, morning sickness is actual throwing up and a lot of people think they have a stomach bug at first. Also, there is no treatment for morning sickness.
And that makes me truly, truly angry!
In a world where people are preparing to go and actually live on Mars, where we have treatment for Polio, smart watches, smart phones, pacemakers and 3D printers that are printing human organs, there is still nothing that comes even close to being a proper treatment for morning sickness.
And I think I know why.
"You feeling awful? I know...but as long as you have a healthy baby, right?"
"It will all be worth it in the end!"
"It's only for the first few months."
"You get used to it."
"It's part of being pregnant."
"It's just hormones."
"They say the sicker you are the better your baby will be."
"Yes, I know it's not very nice - have you tried ginger?"
Morning sickness isn't considered, has never been considered to be and never will be considered as important enough.
It is not something that people want to put money, time and energy into finding a solution too. Because pregnant women should basically 'just get on with it'.
Well, frankly, I don't want to 'just get on with it.' I am not pregnant yet but I want something I can take when the time comes that the doctor can tell me will stop me feeling sick. They have anti-emetic drugs.
Why can't they develop one that is safe for the baby? Has one major disaster in the history of drug development frightened everybody away for eternity?
I bet if men had morning sickness, they would have put more effort into finding a cure...They would have developed something good by now.
What do you think? Do you just accept morning sickness as something you have to put up with or do you suspect it can be solved if someone really put the time, money and thought into it?
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