09/14/2026
A giant thank you to the writers of Call the Midwife for capturing not only the devastating experience of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), but also the legacy of thalidomide and the fear surrounding medication and research in pregnancy that followed.
The scene takes place in 1971. A doctor and nurse, discussing a woman suffering from HG, say:
“She’s the lowest I’ve ever seen a woman, mentally as well as physically.”
“There’s not really any medication for it, is there? Not after thalidomide?”
“There will never be any medication for it, after thalidomide.”
Season 15, Episode 3.
That was 1971!
Now, 55 years later, we still do not have a medication specifically developed and approved to treat Hyperemesis Gravidarum.
But the science is finally giving us reason for optimism.
Thanks in large part to the groundbreaking work led by Marlena Fejzo, we now know that GDF15 plays a major role in the biology of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Her research helped identify genetic variants in GDF15 associated with HG and ultimately helped uncover how a mother’s sensitivity to the dramatic rise in GDF15 during pregnancy may influence her risk of developing the disease.
That discovery is opening doors that simply did not exist before. Researchers are now exploring whether increasing GDF15 exposure before pregnancy, including research involving metformin, could potentially reduce susceptibility to severe symptoms.
Concurrently, the team at NGM Biopharmaceuticals is doing incredible research investigating the GDF15 pathway and its therapeutic potential for .
💫 This is what happens when we research diseases that affect women.
We find answers.
Fifty-five years is long enough.
It’s time to change the story of HG!
