Nausea and Morning Sickness

Vomiting and sickness in pregnancy

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, also known as morning sickness, is very common in early pregnancy.  It's unpleasant but it doesn’t put your baby at any increased risk, and usually clears up between weeks 12 and 14 of pregnancy.

Some women get a very severe form of nausea and vomiting, called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), which can be very serious.  It needs specialist treatment, sometimes in hospital.  Find out more about hyperemesis gravidarum.

With morning sickness, some women are sick (vomit) and some have a feeling of sickness (nausea) without being sick.  The term ‘morning sickness’ is misleading.  It can affect you at any time of the day or night, and some women feel sick all day long.

It’s thought that hormonal changes in the first 12 weeks are probably one of the causes of morning sickness or a lack of vitamin B6 in the diet.

For most women, the symptoms of nausea and vomiting usually begin before they’re nine weeks pregnant, around six weeks after their last period. Symptoms should ease as your pregnancy progresses. In 9 out of 10 women, symptoms disappear by the third month of pregnancy. However, some women experience nausea and vomiting for longer than this, and about one woman in 10 continues to feel sick after week 20.

How common is morning sickness?

During early pregnancy, nausea, vomiting and tiredness are common symptoms.  Around half of all pregnant women experience nausea and vomiting, and around 3 in 10 women experience nausea without vomiting.

People sometimes consider morning sickness a minor inconvenience of pregnancy, but for some women it can have a significant adverse effect on their day-to-day activities and quality of life.

Treatments for morning sickness

If you have morning sickness, your GP or midwife will initially recommend that you try a number of changes to your diet and daily life to help reduce your symptoms. These include:

  • getting plenty of rest because tiredness can make nausea worse

  • if you feel sick first thing in the morning, give yourself time to get up slowly – if possible, eat something like dry toast or a plain biscuit before you get up

  • drinking plenty of fluids, such as water, and sipping them little and often rather than in large amounts, because this may help prevent vomiting
    eating small, frequent meals that are high in carbohydrate (such as bread, rice and pasta) and low in fat – most women can manage savoury foods, such as toast, crackers and crispbread, better than sweet or spicy foods

  • eating small amounts of food often rather than several large meals, but don’t stop eating

  • eating cold meals rather than hot ones because they don’t give off the smell that hot meals often do, which may make you feel sick

  • avoiding foods or smells that make you feel sick

  • avoiding drinks that are cold, tart (sharp) or sweet

  • asking the people close to you for extra support and help – it helps if someone else can cook but if this isn’t possible, go for bland, non-greasy foods, such as baked potatoes or pasta, which are simple to prepare

  • distracting yourself as much as you can – often the nausea gets worse the more you think about it

  • wearing comfortable clothes without tight waistbands

If you have severe morning sickness, your doctor or midwife might recommend medication.

source: www.nhs.uk