According to a joint report released by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and Pregnancy Sickness Support, 10% of women who have suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum decided to terminate their pregnancy on account of the severe symptoms they experienced as a result of the condition.

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), which was experienced by the Duchess of Cambridge during her first pregnancy, is a severe type of morning sickness which results in extreme nausea and vomiting.

According to the report entitled  I Could Not Survive Another Day, approximately 10,000 women a year are understood to suffer from the condition which leaves many bedbound and resulted in the death of six women in the UK between 2006 and 2012.

​Commenting on the findings contained within the report, the charities asserted: "Our research suggests that a significant proportion of women who have ended wanted HG pregnancies were not offered the full range of treatment options, but expected either to put up with the sickness or undergo an abortion."

Offering an explanation for the limited medical intervention, the report suggests: "It is the case that the Thalidomide tragedy continues to cast a long shadow over doctors' willingness to provide medication. Doctors' fears are understandable. But the care of pregnant women cannot be dictated by events of the mid- 20th century in perpetuity."

Commenting on the implications of the condition, the charities insist that each woman should be entitled to make their own choice when it comes to their diagnosis, asserting: "No woman should ever be judged, feel ashamed or a failure for deciding that abortion is the best course of action for her, or pressured into accepting medication when she believes ending the pregnancy is what she needs to do."

The charities insists that more needs to be done in order to raise awareness of the debilitating condition which was the leading cause of death in early pregnancy in the 1930s.

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