Royal College of Midwives' Annual Conference 2014

On Tuesday, I attended the Royal College of Midwives' Annual Conference, representing Pregnancy Sickness Support with my fellow trustee, Caitlin Dean (aka Spewing Mummy). It was my first ever RCM Conference and it was a great (but very tiring) day.

From 9 o'clock in the morning until after 6 o'clock in the evening, Spewing Mummy and I talked, and talked, and then talked some more to the delegates as they wandered past our small stand. I soon lost count of the number of times I had explained that PSS gives support and information to sufferers, has a volunteer peer support network and online forum, provides education to healthcare professionals, carries out research into the condition and so on.

By the end of the day my legs ached from standing up all day (with only a quick sit down for lunch and to fold more information cards when we ran out of supplies) and my mouth was dry with talking. But it was a day very well spent. The Conference was a fantastic platform for the charity. We were able to speak to hundreds and hundreds of midwives and student midwives and increase awareness of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and the charity.

Spewing Mummy

It was a really positive day, with the vast majority of midwives and students being extremely receptive to what we had to say. Many had not heard of Pregnancy Sickness Support, but they listened and willingly took our information cards away with them to hand out to any sufferers they come across on their ward or in the community.  We also made some great contacts with some of the other exhibiting organisations and charities.

Charity Chick

Sadly, there were also a few not so positive comments, such as the lady who professed to understand what it's like to have HG and then added  "... my sickness always kicked in at 3.30pm when I was driving home". Sorry, love, if it only kicked in at 3.30pm (and you actually managed to drive anywhere) then you did not have HG! Or the young midwife in the queue for the shuttle bus who had bought a whole load of ginger lozenges for a friend who was suffering. When I commented that ginger wouldn't help, she added "well, to be honest, I think it's mind over matter for her". Grrrrr!

I am well aware that many sufferers encounter such unsympathetic and ill-informed attitudes from medical professionals but I had been fortunate not to have witnessed them myself. Thankfully though, these moments were few and far between at the Conference and the positive conversations by far outweighed the negative ones.

And in a strange way, even the negative attitudes have a positive side to them in that they reaffirm the need for the work that the charity is doing. They demonstrate that we do need to increase awareness of the condition and how to treat it; they demonstrate that we do need to do more research into HG; and they demonstrate that we do need to work with the medical profession to push for more HG day centres and home IV fluid services across the country.

None of these changes, which the charity is working so hard to achieve, can happen without financial resources. Sadly, the charity does not have very many resources, in fact it is largely run on a shoe-string by a small number of individuals in their spare time. This is why the charity campaign currently being run by Ebay could give us a much-needed financial boost.

If you would like to help us, you can do so by making a few clicks and "favouriting" Pregnancy Sickness Support on Ebay during November or December. It won't cost you anything but it could help us win one of the three cash prizes (£7,000, £3,000 and £2,000) that are up for grabs in Ebay's "My favourite charity" campaign. You will also stand a chance of being one of ten people selected at random to win £250.  It's very simple. All you need to do is click here for the Ebay leaderboard, scroll down until you see Pregnancy Sickness Support and then select the charity as a favourite.

 Please do it now! We need your help!