A new mother has told of her pregnancy hell after a crippling illness caused her to vomit up to 50 times a day for nine months.
Hannah Dalton, from Benfleet, Essex, was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which left her bed-bound and unable to hold down food for the first six months of her pregnancy.
The 30-year-old was confined to a wheelchair for the final three months and had to relearn how to walk after her second daughter Alexandra was born.
Mrs Dalton threw up up to 50 times a day, with the faintest of smells and even noises triggering vomiting episodes.
The business analyst became so malnourished from not being able to eat that clumps of her hair fell out.
Hannah Dalton (putting on a brave face in hospital), 30, threw up 50 times a day while pregnant with her second daughter Alexandra
She was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which left her bed-bound for the first six months of her pregnancy and confined to a wheelchair for the final three months
Doctors say hair loss from malnourishment normally only happens in extreme cases.
But her symptoms vanished the day after having a caesarean section last month.
She said: 'After throwing up 10 or 20 times you don't always bring things up, but I was over a bucket 50 times a day at least.
'Rolling over would make me throw up, things that you don't even think smell like other humans, animals, flowers, and I just mean how they smelt normally, not body odour or wetness - all of it would affect me.
'I could only move with a wheelchair after six months of being in bed, I had to learn how to walk again because my body had forgotten how to move normally.
The mother (pictured with husband Michael and daughters Elizabeth, three, and Alexandra) symptoms vanished the day after having a caesarean section last month
Her new daughter Alexandra was born perfectly healthy weighing 6lbs 10oz on April 2
'I became so malnourished that my hair was falling out, it was just awful. I was bed-bound for six months of my pregnancy.'
As soon Mrs Dalton had her baby, her symptoms vanished, and her new daughter, Alexandra, was perfectly healthy.
Mrs Dalton said: 'It was instant, I still get the odd reflex when I hear, taste or smell what used to trigger me but other than that all is back to normal.
'I had lost nearly two stone because of the sickness, and Alexandra weighed 6lbs 10oz, born April 2.
Mrs Dalton's first meal after giving birth was so enjoyable she took a photograph of it
'My first meal was fantastic, I had toast and tea but I loved it so much I even took a picture of it.
'I'm just glad I got through it and my baby was healthy - that's the main thing.'
Excessive nausea and vomiting are symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum. Exactly how many pregnant women get HG is not known as some cases may go unreported, but it's thought to be around one in every 100.
More than two thirds of women experience pregnancy sickness, but for most the symptoms improve or disappear completely by week 14.
Mrs Dalton with daughter Elizabeth at around eight months pregnant, when she was just able to stand again
If it continues past 14 weeks it can be a sign of HG.
It's not known what causes HG, or why some women get it and others don't. Some experts believe it is linked to the
