Emetophobia (fear of sickness) in Pregnancy / Childbirth

[Polkadotfanatic]

To most this will seem a silly thread, but I am severely emetophobic (fear of vomiting). Last night's OBEM showed all of them vomiting in spectacular fashion. I know that most of you will tell me that you honestly wont care whilst in the throws (ahem) of labour, but I wanted to know if any of you had been given any sort of anti emetic drug in labour or just after. Would also be interested to know what your experiences are of sickness in labour.

I didn't throw up at all if that helps!

Polkadotfanatic, you are NOT silly in any way. You suffer from a phobia. By nature phobia are not a 'normal' fear, nor are they in any way rational. They can make you avoid certain things and affect your life on a day to day basis. To anyone who has suffered from a crippling phobia we do understand even if we don't share your phobia...

Being told that you won't care in the throws of labour, I think misses the point to a degree. It doesn't understand what a phobia is properly. I think you need to have coping strategies and ways to minimise how anxious and afraid you are, rather than be served platitudes. Otherwise its going to affect you your whole pregnancy and the worry will stop you from enjoying your pregnancy.

I hope someone else can offer you that practical advice on this thread, but I wanted to make the point about the difference between phobia and fear, offer support and say that actually some people, at least, don't think this is trivial in the slightest.

Good luck.

Sorry to hear you suffer from this. I have had milder issues with it in the past and its not a great combination with pregnancy is it! Despite mild morning sickness I wasn't sick at any point during my pregnancy or labour which was obviously a huge relief. I did feel slightly sick during labour, but that was actually in the mid stages and it did go away. I didn't actually consider asking about anti-emetics as my issue is with feeling like I'm going to be sick, not actually being sick. CBT has helped me deal with this in the longer term though.

I don't have much to add, just that I wasn't sick in either of my labours, and didn't feel sick either. I think perhaps it can have something to do with the pain relief choices you make? My mother had pethadine with her first and vomited, but was fine with gas and air - but I've heard of other people feeling woozy from gas and air - so maybe ask your midwife what she would suggest.

I suffer from this phobia too and have tried lots of different therapies and drugs to overcome it in the past but they just haven't helped. However, I too was dreading labour and had put off having children because of the thought of ms and being sick in labour but, I wasn't sick, not once.

I demanded asked for an anti-emetic injection and my mw agreed and it was in my notes. I had the jab when I was about 3cm dilated and never thought about it again. I didn't even feel nauseated before I had the jab and my ctx were extremely strong (waters broke and quite fast labour). Maybe this is something you can plan now so as to lessen the anxiety.

I don't know anyone that was sick in labour, I know it can happen but it's not as common as people make out.

Good luck, you will be fine.

thank you to all that answered, this has put my mind at ease. I suppose the thing that I was worried about the most was whether I would be taken seriously enough for them to administer anti-emetic when in labour.

Does anyone know if they actually prescribe anything for morning sickness too, or if it's just ginger and good luck?

You can have anti-emetics prescribed for ms, see your gp and explain your phobia. S/he should take it seriously and prescribe something safe for you and baby. I had cyclizine and something else, forget what it was called now.

Polka so relieved to read this thread! I suffer from the same phobia and and just got a BFP yesterday (my first).

ItsOk great to hear that something can be done about morning sickness (I haven't got it yet but am terrified of how I'll cope if I do). Why don't they prescribe it to everyone if there is something??

I have suffered from a moderate fear of vomiting for the past 20 years or so. It got really bad 10 years ago so much so that I was avoiding places such as pubs and clubs where the chances of seeing someone vomiting were higher than say a supermarket.

When I had my DS three years ago I was sick three times at the beginning of labour and once during the last stage. It wasn't pleasant but I just had to get on with it really.

Then my worst fears became reality last summer when I suffered from absolutely appalling morning sickness for 6 weeks. It got so bad I didn't have any warning as to when I'd be sick. In the end, the doctor put me on Cyclazine which is a miracle drug as far as I'm concerned. If my first pregnancy had been like my second, I can honestly say I wouldn't have had any more children - it was that bad.

I'm due any day now and I think to some extent being so ill last year has lessened my fear of being sick. It hasn't cured me completely but I think I'll be able to cope a bit better if I vomit during labour this time around.