Susan says no one really recognised how sick her daughter was or gave the family a treatment plan, as ITV News’ Cari Davies reports
Warning: This article features themes some people may find distressing.
The mother of a pregnant woman who took her life while suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum – an extreme form of pregnancy sickness – fears more women will die if care isn’t improved across the UK.
In her first interview since the deaths of her daughter Jess and granddaughter Elsie, Susan Cronshaw says she never wants anyone else with the illness to feel so desperate.
“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,” Susan told ITV News.
Her family described Jess as ambitious, active and independent.
She loved her job as a teacher and got up at 5am to go for walks most days, but during her pregnancy, Jess could barely move from her bed or the sofa.
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She experienced constant nausea and couldn’t eat or drink without vomiting.
Her physical symptoms took a huge toll on her mental health, but her low mood wasn’t picked up or acted upon in antenatal appointments.
Jess saw GPs, midwives, nurses and consultants, but Susan says no one really recognised how sick she was or gave the family a treatment plan.
Jess was prescribed anti-sickness medication that took the edge off her symptoms, but in a call to the Royal Blackburn Hospital, she was incorrectly told she should stop taking them.
The reason behind that advice wasn’t recorded by the hospital, but Jess was mistakenly led to believe the drugs would harm her baby.
Without any instruction as to how she should be lowering her dose, Jess unnecessarily weaned herself off the medication.
By the time of her death, her symptoms had returned with a vengeance.
At 26 years old and 28 weeks pregnant, Jess took her own life.
Her baby daughter, Elsie, was born by emergency C-section.
After four days, the family were told their newest member wouldn’t survive.
At the inquest into Jess and Elsie’s deaths in January 2024, coroner Kate Bissett concluded that failings in Jess’ care contributed to the deterioration in her mental health.
She highlighted a lack of mental health exploration at routine antenatal appointments and the incorrect advice to wean off anti-sickness medication.
“That’s all it would have [taken], one individual to do something for Jess, and it would have changed the outcome altogether. I know that, and I live with that,” Susan said.
While there are GPs and hospital trusts that provide exemplary care for women with HG, the experience varies wildly across the UK.
Susan now wants UK-wide improvements in the management of the condition.
Chief Nurse at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, Peter Murphy, said: “We are so sorry we failed Jessica and Elsie when they needed our care.
“We completely accept the recommendations and all issues highlighted during the inquest and have taken action.
“Of course the thoughts of everyone at ELHT remain with the family.”
Hyperemesis gravidarum is characterised by debilitating nausea and frequent vomiting during pregnancy.
Women often report feeling as though they’re dying, and some experience excessive salivation and intense headaches.
It can lead to dehydration, rapid weight loss and malnutrition and can last the entire pregnancy.
It is also the same condition that led to the Princess of Wales being hospitalised in all three of her pregnancies.
“There was a lot of confusion”
Content creator and podcaster Em Clarkson is still dealing with the mental health impacts of hyperemesis.
Her second daughter, Xanthe, was born just before Christmas. The arrival brought overwhelming joy and intense relief at making it through another HG pregnancy.
“When you’re stuck listening to life go on without you, you do go really dark because you just think, well, they don’t need me. No one needs me. And I just, you know, that was really hard.”
Em Clarkson talks about how her pregnancies were affected by hyperemesis gravidarum
Em documented her illness and shared it with her followers in the hope of raising awareness.
“Overwhelmingly, people commented on the loneliness … and said how low they’d been. And so many people wanted to help each other, which is just beautiful. But I think within that, there was a lot of confusion, too. A lot of the messages were confused and looking to me for advice and for help and I was gutted by how many.”
According to the charity Pregnancy Sickness Support there is a systemic misunderstanding of HG within the NHS.
And despite advances in treatment, women with the condition often report feeling dismissed by healthcare professionals as just having morning sickness.
A survey conducted by the charity found that 58% of women rated the care from their GP as “poor” during their first HG pregnancy, while 48% said the same about their treatment from midwives.
And while consultants fared better, 37% of women who saw one scored those interactions as “poor”.
The charity provides advice to women with HG, who often struggle to find support.
Pregnancy Support CEO Charlotte Howden says she wants to collaborate with NHS trusts to find solutions and believes the trauma the condition can inflict needs to be addressed as a priority.
Without change, she fears that what happened to Jess Cronshaw could happen again.
“Not enough change has happened to prevent another woman from sadly and tragically making the decision to take their own life from this condition. Whilst we still have a long way to go to look at and bring awareness to the physicality, the mental health side is still very much overlooked and more needs to be done,” Ms Howden said.
There is no cure for HG but there are several safe and effective treatment options available, most of which work better if they are offered in a timely manner.
The possible treatments were laid out in updated guidelines published by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) in February 2024.
Despite this, there is still hesitancy to prescribe anti-sickness medications.
Consultant obstetric physician Professor Cathy Nelson Piercy and the team at St Thomas’ hospital in London are experts in managing the condition.
Professor Nelson Piercy helped write the RCOG guidelines and says if more healthcare professionals followed them, far fewer women would require hospital admission, making their experience less traumatic and lowering costs for the NHS.
“The biggest barrier is the fact that not all healthcare professionals are aware of the updated guidelines about how to manage hyperemesis and they remain very cautious about prescribing anti-sickness medicines. It’s hard for me as a medical professional to say this, but the attitudes of healthcare professionals is what women will most often mention to us when we listen to their stories.”
“It’s phenomenally important to validate their experience and promise them that it can be different with the right are and support,” she added.
Susan Cronshaw says that’s exactly what Jess needed, someone to take her condition seriously and ensure she felt heard.
The family should have recently celebrated baby Elsie’s second birthday and Susan believes Jess would be campaigning for change.
“The reason I need to do this is because Jess would’ve been a fighter and wanted more to be done for HG. She said once I’ve had a baby I’m going to really fight for people who have got this condition, and she would have done, I know she would,” she said.
If you or someone you know needs support with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, you can find support at the following places:
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Pregnancy Sickness Support on 0800 055 4361, their helpline is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and information is available at pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk
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Samaritans on 116 123, with further information available at samaritans.org
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust said that “following Jess and Elsie’s deaths, all women who have ongoing treatment for hyperemesis are seen regularly in consultant led antenatal clinic to ensure that appropriate medications are prescribed, full risk assessment of the pregnancy is undertaken and perinatal mental health is assessed robustly.
“Following publication of the RCOG’s most recent guidance, ELHT has performed a full gap analysis against the clinical service and updated local guidance to fully reflect the national recommendations.”
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs said: “Hyperemesis is included within maternity and reproductive health in the GP curriculum, which all trainees must demonstrate competence of in order to practice independently as a GP in the UK. Once qualified GPs are also required to consider new clinical guidance as it is published, to make sure that patients receive evidence-based care based on the latest clinical research.”
NHS England said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Jess Cronshaw.
“Excessive nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, is a serious condition which often needs hospital treatment and can have a significant impact on mental health. The NHS is committed to improving care for this condition and is increasing treatment and support for pregnant women through maternal medicine networks.”
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our thoughts remain with Jessica Cronshaw and her family.
“Too many women are not receiving the personalised and compassionate maternity care they deserve, but this government is working to change that and ensure mistakes are not repeated.
“Through our Plan for Change we are driving up standards, training thousands more midwives and maternal mental health workers to support women throughout their pregnancy and beyond.”
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