Pregnancy sickness 'desperation' behind 80 ambulance call-outs a day

The ambulance service is called out up to 80 times a day by pregnant women suffering from severe morning sickness as a result of receiving insufficient help from their GPs, a study has revealed.

Published in the British Journal of General Practice, the research analysed the way women were treated for pregnancy sickness in Newcastle and Gateshead from 2014 to 2015.

Professor Roger Gadsby of the University of Warwick and his team analysed NHS figures and estimated that thousands of ambulances a year are dispatched to help pregnant women who are dehydrated and malnourished as a result of vomiting.

Meanwhile, other women have to return to see their GP up to seven times because they’re apparently being offered at-home remedies, such as chewing ginger, in the first instance to help curb symptoms.

Professor Gadsby told the Independent: "By the time a woman has bothered to consult a healthcare professional, they’ve most likely tried at-home remedies and are at the moderate to severe end of the nausea and vomiting spectrum."

The NHS is spending up to £62 million on treating the condition, much of which could be avoided, he estimates.

Professor Gadsby and his team also found a third of the 122 women who visited their GPs with pregnancy sickness had to come back at least three times.

This, he believes, indicates they had failed to receive appropriate treatment the first time and their condition may have been rapidly deteriorating.

“Women can feel they're being fobbed off,” he said.

The study also revealed 999 was dialled 145 times because of pregnancy sickness, with an additional 198 calls to the 111 urgent care helpline, resulting in 153 ambulances being called out.

“If you extrapolate the data across England, it’s more than 80 ambulances a day,” Professor Gadsby added.

"The 999 calls are a ‘cry of desperation' from pregnant women. If pregnancy sickness was managed more appropriately and effectively, we could reduce the number of ambulance call-outs, save the NHS money, and help women who are suffering, faster."

He believes the thalidomide scandal in the 1950s and 1960s, where a drug used for morning sickness resulted in birth defects, has made doctors wary of prescribing medicine.

However, he insisted that other safe and effective drugs anti-vomiting drugs were now available but only one has been extensively tested in pregnancy

Caitlin Dean, chairperson of the Pregnancy Sickness Support charity, told the Independent that GPs should believe women suffering from pregnancy sickness, in the first instance.

“Women don’t go to the effort of making doctors appointments unless they’re really unwell and some still die from pregnancy sickness if not treated properly," she explained.

Dean urged GPs to assess pregnant women’s symptoms and follow the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ guidelines on how to treat women effectively.

“Sadly, ambulance call-outs are due to a lack of awareness and understanding from primary care givers,” she added.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners told the Independent that GPs are aware of the impact that severe vomiting can have on the health of pregnant women at a time when they often feel anxious and vulnerable.

“There is currently only one licensed drug available to GPs to prescribe in primary care to pregnant women with vomiting, although several others are available on an unlicensed basis," she added.

"Additionally, many pregnant women choose not to take any medication and will only consider it as a last resort when milder treatments have not worked, which is why some patients come back to see us several times."

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy affects up to 80 per cent of women with just one per cent suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) - a severe form of the sickness - experienced by The Duchess of Cambridge in all three of her pregnancies.

According to Pregnancy Sickness Support, women suffering from HG can experience vomiting in excess of 30 times per day, dry retching and feel severely nauseous constantly.

The condition is characterised by dehydration and weight loss of more than five per cent of pre-pregnancy weight (weight loss can be up to or in excess of 20 per cent of pre-pregnancy weight) and other symptoms including a heightened sense of smell, extreme fatigue, headaches, depression and extreme isolation.

The NHS advises those suffering from severe morning sickness consult a midwife or GP if they have dark-coloured urine or have not passed fluid in more than eight hours; are unable to keep food or fluids down for 24 hours; feel severely weak, dizzy or faint when standing up; have abdominal pain; have pain or blood when you pass water; or have lost weight.

Unfortunately, there are no specific treatments that work to solve every woman’s pregnancy sickness.

However, the NHS advises women can make changes to their diet and daily life to try to ease the symptoms. Treatments include plenty of rest, avoid foods or smells that make you feel sick, eating small frequent meals of plain food that are high in carbohydrates and low in fat, and drinking plenty of fluids.

To find out more information about pregnancy sickness, visit the NHS website here.