NVP/HG Documentary FAQS

This documentary is part of a global initiative to advance research relevant to the health of (pregnant) women. It will raise awareness and educate the public, employers, policy makers & health care providers about NVP/HG and its far-reaching physical, psychological, social and economic effects as well as gather support, resources & funding for the HER Foundation. 

We want to paint a powerful, yet realistic portrait of what it means to suffer NVP or survive an HG pregnancy, so we’re turning to the Facebook /online community to help us provide well-grounded insight on the challenges common to “morning sickness” and the often difficult decisions that patients, supported by their doctors/midwives, have to make.

Two Mothers, struggling against impossible odds to expose a sinister, silent killer stalking expectant parents in America. A Geneticist on the verge of a revolutionary scientific breakthrough and the Engineer who inspired her research, together with a handful of courageous mothers-to-be, will challenge everything you thought you knew about Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), aka extreme “morning sickness”. These heroes are racing against the clock to prevent another HG-related death and improve every pregnancy outcome, today and forevermore.

our mother likely suffered from some form of “morning sickness” (up to 80% do). Your mother may’ve developed the most severe form of pregnancy sickness, HG, and not known it. For the most part, this condition is ignored by the medical community; dismissed as temporary and par for the course during pregnancy. That’s why you haven’t heard about it. Women are still expected to “put up and shut up”, even when vomiting one hundred times a day or after losing 46% of their pre-pregnancy weight in a matter of months! But, the reality is HG KILLS mothers and babies and as far as we know, any and every pregnant woman and her fetus(es) is at risk; HG does not discriminate. Up to one in ten pregnant women will develop HG, (just as one in ten men will develop erectile dysfunction), and ​one in three HG pregnancies doesn't make it to term.

There are NO FDA approved medications to treat HG and the only FDA approved medication to manage “morning sickness”, (promoted by Kim Kardashian), has recently been proven to be no more effective than a placebo. But, with knowledge of this drug scandal and the true etiology/pathogenesis of HG, as well as access to timely, safe and effective care, it’s possible to minimize the devastating physical, emotional and financial impact to mothers, babies and families. This film will make a difference to every member of society, present and future.

*In a 2021 study with 5,016 participants, ​52.1% ​of women considered termination due to HG and ​25.5%​ reported occasional suicidal ideation.

*In 2020, researchers provided the first evidence that prenatal exposure to prolonged severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is associated with significantly reduced total cortical volume and area, and a range of psychiatric and cognitive problems. Children born to HG moms are 53%​ more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.