Phobia of being sick - Induction

[KateJ59]

Hi all,

Firstly I am fully aware labour can make you sick and I am trying to deal with that (with my therapist and through hypnobirthing) so please refrain from telling me that. I have a severe phobia of vomiting (emetophobia)

my midwife has told me that I can have anti sickness given to me every few hours.

I have been told however I may need to be induced at 37/38 weeks and I am now petrified of THAT making me sick.

Does anyone have any advice - positive stories to share?

Thanks 🙏

I was induced. I didn't feel sick at all. Hopefully it won't be an issue for you.

I was induced, and I was sick but it was down to overdoing the gas and air as opposed to the labour itself. I've used the gas in all 3 labours, was only sick the last time when I refused to stop sucking on it and it was like getting instantly drunk. I can't advise on any other pain relief as I've never had anything else but gas and air might be one to avoid if you're worried about being sick.

Induction didn't make me feel sick at all although I avoided the drip and waters went on their own. I was eating hospital meals as well so not light food unlike with my first where I ate minimal breakfast and nothing else...

I felt a bit sick the first time I had gas and air but that feeling passed after a few puffs.

I've given birth twice and neither time was sick (as far as I know I didn't poo either)

I felt pretty sick in both labours (one induced, one not) and had a bowl both times. Like you I am an emetophobe, and have a hatred of being sick. I wasn’t actually sick in either labour. I was quite sick after the first Labour, from one of the injections given to help the placenta come. To be honest, it wasn’t like normal sick, it just came quickly and there were bowls all around and I was cleaned quite quickly. It wasn’t as bad for me as normal sick iyswim because there was just so much going on.

I've given birth four times, was induced once and never felt sick at all, at any point. I've had an epidural, pethidine, gas and air and never felt sick in the slightest. Chances are you will feel fine . Good luck!

I’m emetophobic and it was the number one thing I was worried about when giving birth. I was sick in the end. Because I, too, massively overdid it on the gas and air. But there was so much else going on and birth is such a weird trip anyway, I didn’t even really notice, if that makes sense? When you’re in labour, your body takes over and your mind just absolutely goes somewhere else. Time takes on a whole new dimension and you’re not even really aware of what else is happening outside of your contractions.

It’s hard to explain. But the short version is, if you’re sick (and there is every chance you won’t be), you probably won’t even notice or care.

I haven't heard that induction can make you sick anymore than normal labour. Make sure you reiterate to them to keep on top of your anti sickness drugs, they do really work.

Thanks everyone - that's all made me feel a lot better. And the fact that two of you who have the same phobia as me and we're actually sick said it wasn't that bad makes me feel a little less stressful in case it does happen? We're you given anti sickness at all?

I am going to ensure I have lots of that throughout.

Did any of you have the birth naturally after induction or all under epidural? I always had water birth in mind but def won't shy away from epidural if I need it.

Hi. I have the same phobia. Really badly too! I’ve had four children (pregnant with 5th) and i was induced for my last 3 children. I have anti sickness injections through all my labours and have never been sick in labour :) xx

Also- my mum always said it was the epidural that made her sick in labour. I’ve never had epidural only pethidine with 2 of them x

I have a vomit phobia and wasn't sick during either of my two births. First one was induced with a drip, I don't remember even feeling nauseous being on my radar.

I was induced and wasn't sick. Nothing about the induction made me feel sick.

However I ended up having an emergency c section, and just after they'd finished and were about to wheel me away, I was very sick. I'm not sure what caused it exactly but something to be aware of. Hopefully this won't happen to you.

I’ve had 2 inductions and didn’t even feel nauseous and I’m very inclined to be sick normally

I was sick during my first labour and although I'm not phobic but I do find it very frightening, but I think that's more due to the anticipation of being sick and the nausea creeping up on you gradually. Funnily enough I didn't get that feeling and It just happened without warning and as being sick goes, it was fine! I was more upset about being cut out of my favourite T-shirt (mid crash section)

I'm emetephobic too, Kate and have had 3 births. First two came when they were ready and number three was an induction. This is what I did:
I spelt it out to the midwife that I was v afraid of being sick. She was great about it and said it was really common.
I reminded the medical team at the induction that I needed anti sickness medicine
I had the epidural in place and the anti sickness drug injected before I went on the induction drip.

I am normally v quiet and not forthcoming but when it came to this I explained quite clearly to everyone that I had a real phobia. Everyone was great about it. I even had a top up of the anti sickness drugs about six hrs after I'd given birth because it was on my notes. Don't be embarrassed, just tell them what you need to be comfortable. I didn't feel sick once

I have awful vomit phobia and wasn’t induced but did feel really sick during labour, to the point of retching. They gave me two pills that I dissolved in my mouth (stemetil?) and it stopped it completely.
As for gas and air, I pretty much refused it and went without pain relief because I’d read it can make you sick. But the midwives explained how best to use it, and I didn’t feel sick at all on it (although I still didn’t use it as much as they encouraged, I’d only take one breath of it per contraction and then put it down because the pain was less bad to me than the thought of vomiting).

I was quite sick when in labour and the anti sickness did absolutely nothing for me (sorry!). Your phobia sounds horrible and I really can't relate to it, BUT, when you're in labour nothing seems to really matter at the time and all worries literally fly out the window. I was terrified of being naked and I ended up walking around nude for most of it with not a care in the world!

I don't have this phobia but I'm interested in it. What happens if you are actually sick? Or is it 'just' the fear of it that's the issue? I don't meant 'just' I just couldn't think of another way of phrasing it.

Sorry for being nosey I just want to increase my awareness of it.

I was induced and only vomited because I worked myself up so much in the morning.
I was terrified of having pethidine because I didn’t want to be sick but I had it with an anti-sickness medication too and I didn’t feel sick at all. I do remember forgetting the worry of being sick when I was in pain from labour though.

Thanks again everyone for your support. @FourBabies @Nodney @GreenOagoda ❤️ it really is a horrible phobia and I have been ok at hiding from it my whole life until pregnancy and the thought of children, but I want children so badly I am willing to risk this! I see a weekly phycologist who helps a lot but this is really the real exposure!

@shesyourlobster for me it's everything, the fear of it happening to me, fear of the taste smell and how it will happen and where. But also seeing it - so seeing and hearing someone else where I cant escape is quite possibly the worst thing ever. I spend most my time (and pre covid) washing my hands more than the usual as I am so scared of catching a sick bug, and ultimately it's the fear of my body being in control and honestly, the word disgust I relate a lot to it. So for me, this does make me scared it will ruin my labour experience as it fills me with THAT much fear and disgust. I could go on forever - ha, but I hope that helps?

Body being out of control**

@Humpty11 - so it seems that the the anti sickness medication really does work for most people!

It definitely worked for me, I think I talk myself into feeling sick a lot of the time too so I also made sure I focused on something else (we got through a lot of series on Netflix while everything was happening!)
I’m sure you’ve already mentioned it to your midwife but definitely let them know when you go into hospital too. I’m sure they dislike people vomiting as much as we dislike doing it.
You’ll honestly be fine and being in a hospital they will be able to get all sorts of anti-sickness meds should you need them. I hope everything goes smoothly for you x

If you’re scared of your body being in control of you then the whole sick thing will just be absorbed by the whole labour thing. There isn’t much anticipation though, it’s very much a get on with it and deal with it situation.

When my kids bring a vomiting bug home it’s days of anxiety for me - when will the next bout of sick come, will it get on me, will I be woken in the night by the sound of a bed filling with vomit? That doesn’t really happen in labour. It’s way too primal