Morning Sickness Information – The Basics
Morning sickness is the classic first sign of pregnancy. “Morning Sickness” is in fact a somewhat misleading name for the condition experienced by approximately 50 to 75 percent of pregnant women at some time during their pregnancy. Today we will cover the basics of morning sickness information. Though for many women the queasiness and vomiting does occur most frequently early in the day, growing milder as the day goes on, “morning sickness” can actually happen at any time or intermittently throughout the day. For many women it will stop after the first trimester, but it is not unusual for symptoms to linger further into the pregnancy. While uncomfortable, pregnancy sickness is generally no cause for concern.
Some women (about 1 percent), however, experience an extreme form of the condition called “hyperemesis gravidarum.” In hyperemesis gravidarum vomiting occurs frequently or constantly enough to prevent a pregnant mother’s from taking in enough nutrition and hydration to support herself and the healthy development of the fetus. This can be a dangerous condition and merits medical treatment, most often through prescription anti-nausea drugs.
There are a number of theories about what causes the nausea associated with pregnancy. The most prominent view is that it is linked to the increase in estrogen and other hormones in the pregnant woman’s body—though this increase actually occurs in all women, whether or not they experience morning sickness. Morning sickness seems to be more common among women who are carrying two or more children, possibly because they have particularly high levels of estrogen, HCG, and other hormones. It’s also more likely to strike women who have been prone to migraine headaches or to nausea and stomach disturbances in general. If birth control pills triggered nausea, the chances seem greater that pregnancy will too. There may be a genetic factor as well, since a tendency to severe morning sickness seems to run in families. Low blood sugar has also been suggested as a cause.
There are quite a few myths or old wives tales linked to morning sickness. For instance, some claim that morning sickness is a sign that the unborn child will be a girl. Other theories hold that women who don’t get morning sickness are more prone to experience miscarriages. This may have some medical basis, since it could support the view that nausea and vomiting are defense mechanisms which discourage the mother from eating certain things and help the body eliminate substances which may be toxic to the developing fetus. An absence of the reflex might mean that more harmful substances are reaching the fetus, leading to development failure and miscarriage. On the other hand, many women give birth to healthy children without ever experiencing morning sickness.
For pregnant women who do experience morning sickness, a number of things can help minimize its effects. Eating five or six smaller meals throughout the day rather than the usual 3 meals per day appears to help. It’s not good to let the stomach get too full or too empty. Various food remedies have been recommended, including dry crackers, ginger, lemon, toast and tea, cabbage, bananas, rice, and applesauce (not all at the same time, of course). And it is generally considered harmless and possibly helpful for women to indulge both their cravings and their sensitivities while they are pregnant.
As mentioned, anti-nausea medications are available for extreme morning sickness, though they are quite expensive and generally only recommended for severe cases. Some people report benefits from a combination of Vitamin B6 with the antihistamine doxylamine. Anti-nausea devices developed to treat sea-sickness and chemotherapy side effects may also help, such as acupressure bands that apply pressure to a point on the wrist and interrupt the brain signals that trigger nausea.
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