Surviving HG: The Truth About Plant Medicine

Nikki is a 2-time HG mom from Pennsylvania with a story to tell! Nikki fought so hard during her pregnancies and was a true advocate for herself and her motherly intuition. Nikki turned down medications like Zofran due to the negative side effects she experienced and advocated for herself to receive a PICC Line! Nikki utilized the home-grown cannabis plant for durations of her pregnancies but had to refrain due to hospital 'drug' testing, CPS fear and major plant medicine stigma. Nikki describes her experience with social workers, high-risk obstetricians who do not believe her and are not educated about her condition, and how she navigated using the plant with a partner who was not supportive at first. Nikki's story is incredible as she has gone on to help so many HG mom's since her traumatizing experience and is a loving friend I direct HG mom's to in the area.

TW: Pregnancy Loss-- Dess (@rosewaterdaydreams) has endured multiple HG pregnancies and shares her story of survival, self-advocacy and following her intuition. Dess is a fellow TikTok HG plant medicine advocate and one of the first's I met on the app. She helps momma's to not feel so alone, is passionate about change in HG care, and believes in natural medicines- cannabis being on of many! Dess is in school to become a doula and the experience she brings with her will be such an asset to some one day!

This HG mom from Vancouver endured HG in the dark. When her intuition said to use cannabis to survive, she listened! Towards the end of her pregnancy, she found my social media discussing HG and realized that was what was taking place within her pregnancy. This mom previously struggled with anorexia prior to pregnancy and found herself facing ARFID postpartum as a result of HG and the PTSD that comes with it. She describes her hope with magic mushrooms and her journey of breastfeeding and recovery from HG!

Aliyah is a local HG mom I met through an online group for mom's who use cannabis. Shortly after, Aliyah became pregnant and found herself with HG again! This time she was a cannabis-consumer and knew to try it to see if it would help. A huge difference and improvement in her quality of life compared to her last HG pregnancy in 2016. Aliyah shares how she got through this difficult time with the support of her partner and how she chose a natural birth despite HG! Her birth story is truly remarkable and a clear depiction of a mom in her full power!

TW: Pregnancy Loss-- Tanya bravely shares her multiple HG stories and how she was mistreated by her care providers during these times. The most jaw-dropping part of her story involves a medical professional accusing her of using cannabis the she had never touched before. Ironically, Tanya intelligently took that accusation as inspiration. During an HG pregnancy, she chooses cannabis after careful consideration. Tanya finds success in cannabis treating her HG symptoms! Tanya tells her inspiring story with vulnerability, truth, and a passion for change!

TW: Pregnancy Loss -- Faith is a mom who has had Hyperemesis gravidarum two times and is also a mom who had the experience of using cannabis for her second HG pregnancy and not the first. She is a mom who saw the improved quality of life from using cannabis during her HG pregnancy. Faith describes how HG effected her and her family's life and how she dealt with the many many months of debilitating nausea, vomitting, and food aversions. Faith describes her HG experience that lead to weightloss, malnutrition, and dehydration. Like many mom's unfortunately, Faith was and not told by a medical professional that she had Hyperemesis Gravidarum and she had to navigate what that meant for her.

TW: Pregnancy Loss, Wernicke's Encephalopathy-- Grace experienced her first HG pregnancy in 2020. During this time, Grace was not cared for properly by medical professionals despite being in the ER many times with severe symptoms. Grace was given many medications with negative side effects during this time and was not told she had Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Grace's health began to significantly decline and she experienced Wernicke’s Encephalopathy resulting in the loss of her baby boy. What is WE? Wernicke’s Encephalopathy (WE) is too common in hyperemesis gravidarum due to malnutrition yet very often goes unrecognized until significant and potentially permanent morbidity occurs. It can be fatal in up to 20% of cases and causes fetal loss in about half of patients (HER Foundation 2022.) Grace bravely shares her captivating story of survival and details of WE and the concept of being alone due to the pandemic. Her and I dive into the interesting conversation surrounding DMT and Near Death Experiences and our experiences with HG. Grace shares her success with magic mushrooms and how they have profoundly helped her on her healing journey. This episode is jam packed with never before talked about HG information and experiences!

TW: Pregnancy Loss -- Holly (@milkingmyphd) is an advocate on social media platforms for maternal health and plant medicine and is currently doing her PhD. Holly experienced Hyperemesis Gravidarum prior to her fourth Earthside baby and talks about the trauma she endured with that pregnancy loss and lack of care from medical professionals. On this episode, she shares her journey back to plant medicine and passionately speaks about how much both cannabis and mushrooms have helped her during pregnancy, postpartum, and currently while breastfeeding. Holly bravely shares her story so that other mom's can feel less alone and she helps point them in the direction of support and healing.

Brittany's HG story highlights the difficulties of mom's using cannabis during HG and navigating child services (CPS/DCF) in the state of Texas. Brittany's first pregnancy did not involve HG and, thus, was caught off guard when she found herself very sick during her second pregnancy. After the medications failing to help and with careful consideration and listening to her intuition, Brittany chose to survive the rest of HG using cannabis. Brittany shares her struggles with getting help from her doctor and how she was never told the term 'hyperemesis gravidarum.' Brittany shares the steps CPS put her and her family through, how she handled communicating with her social work, and how she worked diligently to get the case closed as soon as possible. (@mama.johnston)

Molly is an Ontario mom who did not experience HG during her first pregnancy but experieced it severely during her second pregnancy 10 months later. Molly tried the medications prescribed to her by her doctor but they did not work and her doctor continued to brush off her alarming symptoms- even prescribing the infamous "ginger" and crackers and saying the weightloss was good for the pregnancy. With a toddler at home, a pre-existing heart condition and a partner who works away, Molly feared the worst as her condition grew worse. Molly decided to try CBD to relieve the nausea/vomitting but had little success. She tried consuming THC and found her quality of life improved significantly and helped decrease her vomitting. Molly contrasts the differences between her pregnancy experiences and speaks about how HG is very severe and life-changing. Molly describes what it was like to fire her negligent OB at 36 weeks and how she navigated the anxieties surrounding her situation. (@Molly_pap96)