THREE weeks into her pregnancy, Hailey Clout was unaware the intense nausea she was feeling could be anything more than regular morning sickness.

But the 20-year-old Warwick woman - then pregnant for the first time - soon learnt she had a rare condition that put her through hell during and beyond her pregnancy with her son, Bentley.

Miss Clout suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, which caused her to vomit up to 40 times a day.

"At first I thought it was just morning sickness, but I went for a check-up at six weeks and they said I shouldn't have been that sick,” she said.

"I was on four meds a day to help the nausea but it didn't help a whole lot.

"I couldn't eat at all, I would have to force myself to eat if anything and I ended up in a hospital a few times to get fluids to make sure I wasn't too dehydrated and for nutrition.”

Without being able to keep food down, Miss Clout explained her weight dropped drastically.

"I dropped about 20kg while I was pregnant, but thankfully it didn't affect Bentley,” she said.

"I've put that weight on in the 10 months since he was born but I can still only manage one meal a day.”

Miss Clout said she would spend most of the day sleeping to avoid sunlight that could trigger intense bouts of vomiting.

She said her seclusion had caused a rift between her and her son's father.

"It usually stops after birth so we expected it to end as soon as Bentley was born but it lasted for six weeks post-birth,” Miss Clout said.

"The doctors said there was a good chance I would get it again.

"I'm too scared to fall pregnant again, which is sad because before this I would have liked to have more kids.”

The young mum said she wanted to raise awareness for the rare illness.

"I wanted to share my story because I didn't know anyone else in Warwick to have it.

"For anyone who is experiencing bad symptoms, go see your doctor.”