Emer O'Neill: 'So many women suffer and say nothing because they haven’t been believed before'

Emer O’Neill talks for the first time about her difficult pregnancy

Emer O'Neill who is pregnant with her third child due in September, developed Hyperemesis Gravidaruma, a condition that causes extreme vomiting and nausea. Photograph: Moya Nolan

There is a perception that forward-thinking women — most concentratedly activists — are pained, mean, unfunny beings, dedicated to sticking pins in birthday balloons and pointing fingers at vulnerable spaces. 

That being, when you’re on a pedestal, the whole world is below you, to upskirt or otherwise. Activism with a pointed message can easily turn didactic — or, worse, smug.