2025-12-17
32 分钟This is The Guardian.
Hello, my name is Claire Longrick and I'm the Deputy Editor of The Guardian Longread.
This December, we wanted to bring you our top picks of the year from The Audio Longread.
One of the most original pieces we've run this year is A Memoir by Abby Stevenson about extreme pregnancy sickness.
or hyperemesis gravidarum, called Don't Call It Morning Sickness.
At times in my pregnancy, I wondered if this was death coming for me.
Abby, who suffered from this condition,
describes in blistering detail what it's like to vomit unstoppably for nine months.
As the piece makes clear, this is nothing like the mild,
nausea and metallic taste that a lot of women complain of in pregnancy.
Extreme pregnancy sickness, which sounds like the setup of a bad-taste comedy sketch,
is so terrible that women have taken desperate measures to make it stop.
Abby describes how her midwife assured her there was nothing to worry about, baby would be fine.
Even though she couldn't keep a sip of water down,
they told her with maddening condescension that she mustn't fuss.
This piece takes a surprising turn when Abby discovers that the Victorians who you'd expect to be rather severe on their female patients,
took the condition more seriously than we do today,
trying out some ingenious and some frankly appalling treatments.
She also comes across new research that shows the condition may,
in fact, be harmful to a baby's development.