Morning sickness is nausea (a feeling of vomiting) or vomiting that occurs during pregnancy. It generally occurs at the initiation of pregnancy in 1/2 of the pregnant women, generally 5 to 6 weeks from the conception period, it generally vanishes at around 12 weeks though it continues to be present in few of the pregnant women. The reason for the morning sickness is due to high oestrogen levels and high hcg during pregnancy. It is beneficial in one way to the fetus as it prevents the intake of a few harmful foods which harm fetus though it may be non-harmful for the mother. The immune system of a mother during pregnancy is decreased which favors fetus by not rejecting the new foreign body (fetus) that grows in mother. So in such way morning sickness protects the fetus by preventing the intake of harmful food by the mother
Exaggerated morning sickness – Hyperemesis gravidarum :
“Hyperemesis gravidarum” is a condition where pregnant women have exaggerated nausea and vomiting which generally leads to loss of fluids and electrolytes, dehydration, weight loss which further prevents food intake my mother and is harmful to both mother and fetus. The doctor should be consulted if the symptoms persist. The reason for hyperemesis being multiple pregnancies, ectopic pregnancy, high sugar levels, etc…Antiemetics and adequate fluid intake are suggested apart from the advice to have short and frequent meals and exercise. Generally, it is rare and seen in 1% of patients. The knowledge of hyperemesis is necessary for all the pregnant women due to its severity
Is it mandatory to have morning sickness :
The most common doubt by most of the pregnant women is :
1. Is it normal to have morning sickness? if so up to what duration is normal?
2. Is it normal if morning sickness is not present? if so up to how many weeks of pregnancy?
The answer to these questions are :
1. Generally, morning sickness starts at around 6 weeks from conception and is almost gone by 14 weeks in most of the pregnant women. though in few of them it will continue up to 20 weeks…..
2. It is normal not to have morning sickness or to have mild morning sickness and it is noticed that few cases of miscarriage were noticed to have no history of morning sickness through the vice versa is not true.
Morning sickness – 16 weeks of pregnancy:
This is the most common question asked. Normally by 16 weeks in most of the pregnant women morning sickness is gone..if it persists or it didn’t occur it might be normal which should be confirmed by ultrasound scan.
Treatment of Morning sickness:
No treatment is required if the morning sickness is mild or if it doesn’t cause any disturbance in the body. If the morning sickness is more the following drugs are suggested:
- T.Pyridoxine
2. T.Promethazine
3. T.Doxylamine
4. T.Diphenhydramine
Apart from this, exercise and short frequent meals are suggested.
About The Author:
Ethel Houston is the founder of Randomstuffido. She is a freelance writer, researcher, and health consultant. She specializes in business, entrepreneurship, technology, and social media trends.