PARENTING ARTICLES & TIPS

Morning Sickness

In this article we discuss one of the most dreaded symptoms of pregnancy ... morning sickness!

While there can be many symptoms of pregnancy, by far the most dreaded is that queasy feeling in the stomach. The medical community defines morning sickness as the nauseated feeling a pregnant woman experiences during the first trimester of pregnancy. This is, at best, a vague definition, as many women experience morning sickness for their entire pregnancy, while others rarely experience it at all. Some women will actually experience morning sickness in the morning, but the term “morning sickness” is a misnomer, as some women experience it during the afternoon as well as in the evening hours.

There is really no singular cause for it known, but physicians have concluded that there are a number of things that can contribute to morning sickness which include increasing hormone levels, sensitivity to odors and the enhanced sense of smell and a sensitized gastrointestinal tract. There are also some factors that may predispose a woman to morning sickness. Some of these include a pregnancy that involves twins or triplets, if the woman has had morning sickness with a previous pregnancy, and if the woman is susceptible to motion sickness or suffers from migraine headaches prior to becoming pregnant.

Since it is a widespread, common problem in pregnancy, there has been much research and study conducted related on how to best alleviate it. While there certainly isn’t a cure for morning sickness, there are ways in which it can be managed. Some of these are avoiding foods whose scents cause nausea, avoiding fatty foods, eating many small meals instead of three regular sized ones throughout the day, taking prenatal vitamins with food, drinking plenty of fluids between meals, and taking regular naps, which will allow the body to rest.

Although there is no medical backing for such things, ginger and peppermint seem to alleviate nausea and morning sickness for some women. Other alternative remedies that have been handed down from generation to generation as ways to quell morning sickness include bananas, vitamin B, cloves, cola syrup, honey, ice, lemons and red raspberry leaf tea. Before using any of these remedies, it is wise to first check with ones physician. There are also acupressure bands available that are worn on the wrist over a pressure point that sometimes alleviate morning sickness. If one has tried all of the aforementioned and there appears to be no relief in site, a physician may be able to prescribe an anti-nausea medication that will help. There are many types of these prescription medications available that are safe to use during pregnancy that will offer relief from morning sickness.

It may or may not occur with pregnancy, but if it does, there are numerous ways to manage it. The physician will be able to offer advice concerning this symptom that is a nuisance for so many pregnant women, and who knows, maybe in the near future the medical community will come up with a cure for it.

For more information about pregnancy and caring for pregnant mums, see the "resources" section of this website, or go to articles about pregnancy.