Kate needs plenty of rest

Inside the punishing illness that’s dominating the early weeks of Kate’s pregnancy.

Within minutes of Kate being admitted to hospital, the media throng outside the King Edward VII Hospital swelled into a veritable melee. But it was the furthest thing from the Duchess of Cambridge’s mind.

She was inside – reportedly being hooked up to rehydrating drip – to stop a hideously endless cycle of violent vomiting, with Wills by her bedside. Unfortunately for her, it wasn’t just your usual awful morning sickness that so many mothers-to-be are forced to endure. Doctors announced Kate, 30, was suffering from Hyperemesis gravidarum, or HG, a severe nausea that some liken to being poisoned.

“The symptoms are awful,” says Brisbane gynaecologist Dr Gino Pecoraro, who explains that the condition affects about two per cent of pregnant women, and can lead to severe dehydration and exhaustion. Frustratingly for sufferers, it’s often dismissed as run-of-the-mill morning sickness.

“Whilst regular morning sickness means a lot of dry toast and ginger ale, HG can sometimes mean you need small carbohydrate meals, avoiding triggers, and really keeping up the fluids.”