Morning sickness: Treatment, symptoms, advice and help

About morning sickness

Morning sickness is a condition affecting mainly pregnant women and is characterized by nausea and vomiting. It is noticed usually in the morning and eases up as the day follows. The frequency varies from person to person.

Morning sickness: Incidence, age and sex

Morning sickness affects almost 75% of all pregnant women. It is noticed that incidence of morning sickness is higher among teenagers and middle-aged women. Multiple pregnancies or obesity may also increase the chances of morning sickness in pregnant women.

Signs and symptoms of morning sickness: Diagnosis

The predominant signs and symptoms of morning sickness include vomiting or just a feeling of nausea. Some women have only nausea while some have both nausea and vomiting. These symptoms usually occur in the first trimester, starting with around 6 weeks of pregnancy. About half of these women feel relieved by around the 14th week of pregnancy. Unfortunately, for a small percentage of pregnant women, such symptoms continue throughout pregnancy and until delivery. Some women may not experience morning sickness at all.

Causes and prevention of morning sickness

The exact cause of morning sickness is not known, but many theories have been put forth. It is probably a combination of many physical changes which the body undergoes during pregnancy. It may also be caused by hormonal changes during early pregnancy. Emotional stress, low blood sugar, fatigue, smell of some food or actually eating some kind of food may aggravate the problem . Nausea seems to be more common as compared to vomiting and may be worse when the woman is carrying twins or triplets.

Morning sickness: Complications

Though morning sickness is a physiological process, but severe morning sickness is pathological, and referred to as ‘hyperemesis gravidarum’. This is a serious condition wherein excess vomiting may lead to dehydration in the affected pregnant woman. This may be followed by weight loss.

Morning sickness: Treatment

It is important to bear in mind that morning sickness usually stops after first 3 or 4 months of pregnancy. However, the following steps may be taken to avoid distress and manage morning sickness:

• Eat dry toast or crackers the first thing in morning before getting out of bed
• A small snack before going to bed in the night
• Have small, frequent meals
• Eating foods high in protein and complex carbohydrates and avoiding foods high in fat and salt
• Taking ginger tea or soda
• Avoid smoking (both active and passive)
• Windows of the house should be kept open in order to keep air flowing through rooms to reduce strong odours which may act as a trigger.

However, anti-emetic medications may be prescribed in some women with severe nausea and vomiting.