Morning sickness is just one of those things we women learn to put up with when we're pregnant, isn't it? But when it turns into "all-day" sickness and progresses to "all-night as well" sickness, you must get, well, sick of it.

"Oh, it was horrible," recalls Lizzie Renshaw.

Lizzie suffered debilitating symptoms throughout her first pregnancy with daughter Mollie, now aged two and a half, which started again when she was pregnant with her son Jack, born three months ago.

"With Mollie it started almost as soon as I got pregnant and lasted for seven months," says Lizzie.

"That time I put up with it because I thought it was a natural part of being pregnant, but I used to have to take sick bags everywhere with me. And I had to pull over on the motorway on the way to work, even though it was only ten miles from my home."

When she was expecting her second child, Lizzie had the added demands of coping with a toddler.

"It just got too exhausting. I would be running out of the room to the loo seven or eight times a day.

"I couldn't eat a whole meal and I couldn't face cooking food, either. Even putting my toothbrush in my mouth was risky."

Lizzie consulted her GP, who suggested anti-sickness medication, but she was reluctant to take it.

"I didn't want to take any tablets because of the thalidomide scandal. I know it was years ago, but I still wasn't prepared to risk it," says Lizzie.

It was Lizzie's midwife who suggested she might like to try acupuncture, and so she made an appointment to see Qin Zhang at the Centre for Chinese Medicine in Hill Lane, Southampton.

"I almost didn't make it. I was feeling so sick I told my husband, Jason, that I couldn't go. Luckily, he persuaded me that it was probably the best time to go and he drove me there."

Lizzie says she immediately felt reassured when she met Qin.

"She was so caring, calming and gentle. She put a blanket over me and kept checking I was OK and talking to me. I felt in such safe hands," says Lizzie.

"The session lasted about an hour. She put needles in my head, my arms, my back, the top of my stomach, my legs and my feet. I can't say it was completely painless, but it wasn't unbearable either, and Qin assured me that meant it was working.

"When I came back out to the waiting room, my husband could not believe the change in me. He said I looked like a different person.

"I felt as though I had more energy and I didn't feel as sick as before. I was looking forward to eating a meal, something I had not done in months.

"After the third visit the nausea went completely. It was amazing.

"I went four times in all. I also took some herbal tablets she gave me and she told me not to eat too many dairy products or cold food, especially cheese, because that might set it off again.

"Quite frankly, I still can't believe that I walked into the centre feeling as poorly as I did that first time and came out feeling so much better after just an hour."

Qin Zhang can be contacted at the Centre for Chinese Medicine at 144 Hill Lane, Southampton. Telephone: 023 8022 2214.