Morning Sickness During Pregnancy : Causes, Concerns & Treatments

Well, this is something almost every pregnant woman goes through. Now the euphoria of discovering your pregnancy just changed into a constant hangover. It is this feeling of nausea in the morning that can happen any time of the day or night. Usually, nausea and vomiting are the first signs of pregnancy and begins around 6th week of pregnancy. Morning sickness during pregnancy is perfectly normal and absolutely no risk for your precious baby, but affects your daily activities.

Why are you feeling nauseous during pregnancy?

No one knows for sure what causes morning sickness. Morning sickness usually occurs during the early months of pregnancy. The causes of morning sickness are the increase in hormone levels due to formation of your developing fetus. The progesterone levels are high which relaxes the stomach muscles making digestion less efficient resulting in stomach acids and GERD. The HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) hormone produced during conception by embryo and later by placenta could be also responsible for your state. Pregnant woman gets hypoglycemia because the placenta uses up all energy from the mother’s body. Stress is also responsible for gastrointestinal problems. You more prone to morning sickness, if you are one among the below:

Those of you having twins or triplets
If you had severe nausea and vomiting in your first pregnancy
If you have motion sickness
You have migraine headaches
You are obese
If you are under stress
Family history of morning sickness

What You Can Do For Morning Sickness?

Most morning sickness would be cured on its own after a few months. Here are some tips to minimize the severity

Tiredness could make your nausea worse, so take plenty of rest.
Fluid intake in small amounts and regularly could help your queasiness.
Get up slowly in the morning as moving quickly could worsen your nausea. Avoid cooking soon after you get up as food smells may trigger them.
Consider having small high carb meals per day as empty stomach can worsen it.
Practice pranayama or breathing exercises to get rid of stress.
Ginger supplements help in alleviating the nausea and vomiting to some extent.
Fresh air and exercise or a simple walk in the morning could help in keeping the nausea under control.
Bananas are high in potassium and great in combating nausea.
Mint has anti-inflammatory properties, which can soothe the stomach as well as sniffing them bring you instant relief.
Try vitamin B6 supplements to reduce nausea and vomiting
A diet rich in protein is one of the best ways to prevent morning sickness.

Risk Factors of Morning Sickness

Hyperemesis gravidarum is a condition where a pregnant woman suffers from severe nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. In severe cases, they are required to stay in hospital for treatment with IV fluids. You don’t need to worry about not eating much, as your baby is tiny and needs less nutrition when the morning sickness is at its worst. You can make up for the lost weight after the first trimester. Just take it as a hangover and you will get over this phase too. Consult your doctor if the nausea and vomiting is severe. He may recommend antiemetics, which are perfectly safe to use in pregnancy.