Pregnant Woman, 26, Dies by Suicide After Extreme Morning Sickness Leaves Her Bedridden with 'No Relief'

Mar. 15, 2025

Jessica Cronshaw had a severe case of hyperemesis gravidarum.Photo:Just Giving

Just Giving

A UK woman whose daughter took her own life while struggling withsevere pregnancy sicknessis 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 she’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.”

The debilitating condition causes extreme nausea and vomiting, theCleveland Clinicsays, 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.

Jessica Crownshaw’s mom claims she was not treated appropriately for severe pregnancy sickness.Just Giving

“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 allegedly 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."

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.”

An inquest into Jess’s death concluded that “feeling unheard” contributed to “the deterioration of her mental health,” and that she was given “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.”

AJust Givingfundraiser for the UK’s Pregnancy Sickness Support organization has been established in Jess’s name.

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source: people.com