Morning Sickness Symptoms, Causes and Treatment 

Morning sickness is a condition characterised by a general feeling of sickness, nausea, and vomiting episodes. The condition is usually seen in pregnant women due to the numerous changes in their body’s hormones. Morning sickness can actually strike you at any time of the day.

Nausea is the main symptom of morning sickness. You can feel a sensation of wanting to throw up, and you may feel sick without actually being sick at all. These symptoms may also be accompanied by vomiting spiels. All of these symptoms are normal and are typically not worrisome medically.

However, you may also suffer from severe morning sickness, medically known as hyperemesis gravidarum. Speak to a doctor if you experience severe nausea and frequent vomiting, as these are the classic symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum. We’ll learn more about this condition later.

Symptoms of morning sickness begin to appear during the first month of a missed period. It usually continues for a few weeks lasting well into the third month of pregnancy.

The onset and severity of morning sickness may vary depending on person to person. Some get the illness throughout the first three months of pregnancy, some extend a bit into the second trimester, while other expectant moms feel nothing at all.

Your pregnancy and your baby’s health are unharmed even if you have this condition. But you can always speak to a physician if you’re still worried or if you can’t keep food down and feel your vomiting episodes are quite severe.

Here are the possible symptoms you may experience when you get morning sickness:

• Feeling sick for 3-4 times daily
• Headaches
• Confusion
• Fatigue or feeling unusually tired
• Constant nauseated feeling
• Quickened heart rate
• Weight loss or failure to gain adequate weight during pregnancy
• Dehydration due to lost fluids

The severity of the symptoms may greatly vary. You can even go from feeling well initially, then getting some mild nausea, and ending up with severe vomiting accompanied by fatigue and actually being sick.

Talk to your doctor at once if you feel these symptoms. Often, these symptoms are normal and are typical parts of early pregnancy body changes.

Dietary and lifestyle changes are often enough to keep morning sickness at bay. But some physicians may prescribe medication to help curb nausea.

Hyperemesis gravidarum is severe morning sickness characterised by severe nausea, frequent vomiting bouts, possible dehydration, and weight loss. The condition may last throughout the entire pregnancy, but symptoms usually ease up a wee bit after the 20^th week of pregnancy.

Severe morning sickness requires medical interventions to help ease up the severe symptoms. Our doctors may refer you to a hospital for specialist treatment.

Morning sickness as a part of pregnancy cannot be stopped entirely. However, you can ease the effect of its symptoms by taking these steps:

• Drink lots of fluids to help stop dehydration. Sip small amounts of water frequently to achieve this without feeling bloated or nauseated all the more.

• Take small but frequent meals instead of eating three large meals per day.

• Rest up. Get 8 hours of quality sleep at night and put up your feet as much as possible in the mornings.

• Take vitamin B6 supplements to help fight nausea.

• Eat and drink ginger-infused foods and beverages. Ginger has been found to help ease nausea in most pregnant women.

• Undergo complementary alternative therapies such as acupressure.