Hyperemisis and work

[MissDolly95]

I work in a customers facing job (supermarket) and we are a very busy store in the middle of a city centre.

I am 10 weeks pregnant and last Thursday I got admitted to hospital on a drip as I couldn't stop throwing up or keep anything down for well over 6 hours. My keytones in my urine sample were 3+. Was due in work that Friday but of course called in, my boss was really understanding and I had that weekend off.

I only work weekends, so I returned to work yesterday. I was on a 9 hour shift 2pm till 11pm, I was sat on the till from 2pm until 19:30pm, I had one toilet break and one break to take paracetamol when I started to feel light headed, my head was pounding, I then started to feel sick and had to get off to be sick. Which scared me as I haven't been sick since the hospital so I thought for gosh sakes i hope it's not a repeat of last week.

We were already a staff member down, so there was only 3 of us in a busy store. I couldn't be on the till anyone and I had to go and be sick. I then started worrying so of course hormones and I started crying and pleaded to go home because I was going to the toilet every 5 minutes then. My shift manager was lovely. While I'm waiting to be picked up I'm in the toilet throwing up. I get a text from my boss saying

"hi, have you left store"
"You are leaving 2 people in store if you go"
"You can't continue shifts like this"
"I feel like you need a break and eat and then see how you feel. You haven't give yourself chance"

Bare in mind I was on the till nearly 6 hours without my half an hour break. I was raging at these comments from my boss.

What my question is, what do I do to prove hyperemisis is serious? I'm really struggling and I'm back in today on another 9 hour shift

Fuck your boss, pregnancy sickness is no joke and from what you described about your hospital visit I doubt yours will be disappearing anytime soon. It usually lasts the first trimester, with a small percentage of women having it for most or all of their pregnancy.

Have you tried any anti sickness tablets? You can get them from your GP and they may help, but they don't work for everyone.

You can get signed off sick for as long as you need. Although I assume you don’t get full sick pay? Could you manage on statutory sick pay? Pregnancy sickness is protected and won’t affect your sickness record. Employers have to make reasonable adjustments for you.

@Luxell934 it's honestly awful. I didn't have any sickness with my daughter. All I had was heartburn. How lucky was I😂

And I'm on my second try of anti sickness now. So I was on cyclizine but they were making me so spaced out. And now I'm on stemetil

That is awful behaviour from your boss! I had a fit note initially saying I may need amended duties but then things got worse and I was signed off for two weeks. Have a chat to your GP and see if you can get a fit note that says hyperemisis gravidarum on it. I also sent this link to my boss as she genuinely just wanted to know more about how she could support me https://www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/documents/page_pdfs/PL4_Employer_info_2013.indd.pdf

I’m 15+6 and things have gotten so much better so hopefully things ease up a bit in second trimester for you.

Can you not just get signed off work for a few weeks ? I've been off for the past two weeks I'm still not better and due back on Monday but if I'm struggling I'm getting my doctor to sign me off again it's not worth it.

You don't need to get signed off but legally your workplace have to do a pregnancy risk assessment and you can ask for adjustments such as a short 10-15 minute break every 3 hours.
Surely your boss would rather have you in and working in a more sustainable way rather than not at all.
If your workplace hasn't done the risk assessment yet and starts dragging their heels then get in contact with your trade union

They did my risk assessment, but that was before the sickness really kicked in. Will they have to do another one? I did request no 11pm finishes also as we never get out at 11pm, it's more midnight and onwards depending on staff on that shift

@MissDolly95 you should get as many as you need. I just had another one last week as I was feeling better and felt I could start to do more. I think best practice is one every trimester but that might just be more work.

Yeah the standard expected frequency would be once a trimester but you can ask for a review at any time and they should facilitate within a week or 2