A new analysis of NHS figures has found that the ambulance service is being called on average 80 times a day by pregnant women suffering from severe morning sickness as a result of being “fobbed off” by their GP.
Up to 20,000 ambulances a year are being sent out to women who need urgent rehydration following pregnancy-induced vomiting. The year-long study of the Newcastle area estimates this is costing the NHS £62 million annually, an expense which could be avoided with an overhaul of GP care.
Research found that pregnant women are being advised to chew ginger instead of being prescribed medicine. A third of women have had to visit their GP three times before being given sufficient medication with some visiting up to seven times. Roger Gadsby, a Doctor from University of Warwick who led the study, suggested this meant women had not been treated correctly the first time. “Women can feel they have been a bit fobbed off,” he said.
While 80% of pregnant women will experience some form of morning sickness, up to 2% will suffer with Hyperemesis Gravidarum. This is the extreme form of nausea the Duchess of Cambridge suffered during all three of her pregnancies. Although guidelines two years ago urged doctors to take this condition more seriously, a study in eight surgeries in Newcastle found that the most common solutions suggested by GPs was to rest, increase fluid intake, change diet and chew ginger.
“If a woman comes to see a health professional, the likely implication is that these milder home remedy treatments have not been effective. If you’re having six hours of nausea a day, one or two vomits, going home and resting or taking ginger is just not appropriate,” Gadsby explained.
Gadsby highlighted that thalidomide scandal, where a morning sickness drug used in the 1950s and 1960s caused birth defects, has made some doctors resistant to prescribing medicine for pregnant women. However, he emphasises that current drugs are both effective and safe.