With the aim to make nutrition easier to tolerate, even in extreme cases of taste aversions and a sensitive gag reflex, UK-based Replenish is a mild lemon flavor electrolyte, folic acid and vitamin supplement launched just seven weeks ago.
The idea was borne out of co-founder Laura Milward’s experience of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), a condition characterized by severe nausea and vomiting, which she fought throughout her pregnancy.
“When it came to healthcare it was very clear there was a lack of knowledge and understanding around the condition,” Milward said. “I was constantly told ‘it’s just a bit of morning sickness, it will pass’, ‘have a ginger biscuit’.
“In the weeks leading up to my delivery, I was waking up to be sick through the night, I was hospitalized several times and ultimately was in hospital in the days before I was finally induced at 35 weeks.”
Milward, whose daughter is now a 7-year-old, said her main concern during this ordeal was how she could grow a baby when she couldn’t eat or drink.
“I was feeling a lot of guilt around not being able to keep anything down,” she said. “After vomiting in the GP’s surgery one day, I was told to go to the pharmacy. I remember looking at this long aisle of pregnancy supplements and thinking none of them had my condition in mind.
“I could not consume large capsules or powders which required large amounts of water, and I couldn’t handle anything with a strong flavor or smell.”
Considering an estimated 90% of pregnant women experience some level of nausea, Milward saw the clear opportunity for innovation.
But it wasn’t until she met friend and co-founder Laura Moore, who had expertise in FMCG marketing, that the idea started to become a reality.
The duo employed the support of an advisory board of professionals, spanning medicine, nutrition, midwifery and commercial product development, to support the formulation.
“Energy gels are often extremely sweet and gelatinous,” Moore said. “Replenish is nothing like that, it’s a liquid texture. We also did a lot of taste testing and research to find a flavor that most women could accept even when suffering nausea, and mild lemon came up as the clear preference.”
Available D2C and via Amazon since the end of April (2026), each 28 ml sachet contains glucose and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium and chloride) to replenish low levels caused by a poor diet due to nausea or vomiting. Additionally, each pack provides C and B vitamins to support energy and immunity, and methylfolate—the bio-available form of folic acid.
Supporting pregnancy sickness across the UK
Working in partnership with the charity PSS (Pregnancy Sickness Support), the duo gain invaluable direct access to the charity’s community of patients and healthcare experts and, in return, a percentage of all profits go to the charity.
“We’ve been surprised by the response from GPs and midwives,” said Moore. “We thought they would be the most resistant to something new but they’ve been really open to this idea. Midwives have even been suggesting line extensions, asking if we’d make one for taking during labor, so that shows what a need there is for this sort of product.”
They’ve also supported patients via the PSS helpline and received positive feedback from consumers suffering with the most severe cases of HG.
“We didn’t really expect women with HG to be our key market because we know how hard it is for them to consume anything,” said Milward, “but one woman said Replenish was the only thing she’d been able to keep down all day, and another said it’s made her feel human again.”
Some improvements to care have been made since Milward’s experience, she noted, with a care pathway for pregnancy sickness put in place in the UK 18 months ago. Until then, GPs had no instructions on how to deal with a woman suffering with pregnancy sickness.
The business partners are working with PSS to help build research and awareness into HG and its related conditions to improve care solutions.
