Extreme pregnancy symptoms like excessive nausea and vomiting can dramatically increase a woman's risk for mental health and neurological problems, a new study says.
Women diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum were more than 50% as likely to develop a range of 13 conditions that included postpartum psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers reported Thursday in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women's Health.
They also had a nearly tripled risk for postpartum depression, as well as a more than doubled risk for eating disorders, researchers found.
"Many pregnant women experience nausea and vomiting but for women with HG this occurs at a level which is far from 'normal' and as such it can be profoundly debilitating," lead researcher Hamilton Morrin said in a news release. Morrin is a doctoral fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London.
Hyperemesis gravidarum isn't simple morning sickness. Women with the condition experience prolonged and severe nausea and vomiting, leading to dehydration and weight loss, researchers said in background notes.
