Morning Sickness

Image from coliccare.com

Morning sickness, or as the pregnant women knows it – nausea and vomiting, can happen anytime during the day, not only in the morning. Almost every woman suffers from it during different stages of their pregnancy, mostly starting as early as 4 weeks and going on until the delivery.

Why does it happen?

The main reason morning sickness can happen is because of the changes taking place inside your body. The body tries to adjust to the increased hormonal level. Some other reasons can be:

• An enhanced sensitivity towards taste and odor, which can order up a gag as a reflex action
• Tricky or empty stomach
• You have a history of motion sickness
• You have a history of migraine
• Increased level of Estrogen
• Abnormal response to stress

Will it affect my baby?

Mild vomiting and nausea will not harm your baby.  Nothing is risky as long as you are able to keep yourself hydrated and fed. If it keeps you from eating a balanced diet, make sure you cope up by taking prenatal vitamins. Start with low doses and consult your doctor first.

However, severe vomiting and nausea harms the baby. It causes low birth weight, preterm birth and newborns that are small for their gestational age.

In severe cases it can cause hyper emesis. It is a serious condition and requires hospitalization and proper professional help.

How can I get some relief?

There are many ways which can help you in finding some relief from morning sickness:

• Avoid eating spicy or junk food. Feed yourself with something healthy.
• This is the toughest: try to figure out what you can tolerate.
• Drink fluids frequently throughout the day.
• Don’t jump from the bed right away in the morning. Take your time. Sit on the side of the bed for sometime and do everything slowly.
• Keep some simple snacks such as crackers near you bed. Eating them every morning after getting up (and resting sometime after that) or if you feel nauseating in the middle of the night, can bring relief.
• Don’t stress yourself. Relax and try to get frequent naps.
• Try ginger, it helps easing queasiness.
• Talk to your doctor about taking anti-nausea medication.
• Try to avoid non-food triggers such as a stuffy room, car ride and even visual stimulus.

There is no need to worry about morning sickness until and unless it becomes severe. In fact, it is considered as a sign that the pregnancy is progressing normal. So take it easy and keep your diet healthy and relax.

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