Susan Cronshaw says her daughter Jess struggled with hyperemesis gravidarum so severely that it led to the loss of her life — and that of her 4-day-old baby
A UK woman whose daughter took her own life while struggling with severe pregnancy sickness is saying that no one took the illness seriously — and if one person had helped her daughter “it would have changed the outcome altogether.”
Susan Cronshaw said he’s sharing her daughter Jess Cronshaw’s story because “I wouldn’t want anybody to feel how Jess did. She felt like no one was listening — and they weren’t. It felt like you were just pushed from pillar to post. There was nobody taking it and being in charge of it.”
Her 26-year-old daughter, Susan told ITV News, had been diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), an extreme version of pregnancy sickness with which Kate Middleton famously struggled.
The debilitating condition causes extreme nausea and vomiting, the Cleveland Clinic says, often leading to weight loss and dehydration. It can be managed with prescription medication at home but in extreme cases requires patients to be hospitalized and given IVs.
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“She couldn’t drink, she couldn’t eat, her weight was dropping off her. Her skin was white. She just wasn’t Jess,” Susan said. And as Jess herself said — in a tearful voice memo to a friend, “Honestly it’s, like, the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through in my life. The constant nausea, there’s no relief from it. I just spend my days in bed. It’s just horrible,” Jess said.
No one recognized just how sick her daughter was, Susan says, sharing that Jess was given an anti-nausea medication — but then advised not to take it because it could harm her baby.
In November, 2022, Jess was 28 weeks pregnant when she took her own life. Her daughter Elsie was delivered via C-section, but died four days later.
“We had her christened,” Susan says. “She got reunited with her mom … there’s no words I can give you. Just heartbroke. Living my life now feels like I’m lost.”
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An inquest into Jess’s death concluded that “feeling unheard” contributed to “the deterioration of her mental health,” and that she was give “incorrect” guidance to stop the anti-nausea medication. The inquest also noted that Jess had “not been referred to any mental health service or support.”
“That’s all it would have [taken], one individual to do something for Jess, and it would have changed the outcome altogether,” Susan said. “I know that, and I live with that.”
A Just Giving fundraiser for the UK’s Pregnancy Sickness Support organization has been established in Jess’s name.
“We all miss you everyday Jess and there isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t cherish the precious memories we had the honour of making with you,” the fundraiser says. “We hope we are doing you both proud by continuing to pursue much needed change in the health care system, whilst navigating our grief so no expectant mother suffering with HG experiences what Jess did. We love you both endlessly. 🤍🕊️”
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