Morning Sickness and how to deal with it.

Nausea and sickness is very common in the early stages of pregnancy, it can happen at any time of day and not necessarily in the mornings!

The causes of morning sickness in pregnancy are the pregnancy hormones that are maintaining your pregnancy. The symptoms generally subside at around 12-13 weeks when the placenta takes over and the hormone levels drop slightly, but there are some women who have sickness through the majority of their pregnancy.

Morning sickness can be very mild nausea or vomiting that can happen at any time of day. Some women find that they go off certain foods and smells that can also trigger off the nausea.

Sometimes it is difficult for women to deal with as they may have not told anyone about their pregnancy, and are having tiredness and nausea.

• If you feel nauseas in the mornings, then have a dry biscuit or toast next to your bed and nibble on it before you get up out of bed.
• Eat little and often, avoid eating huge portions of food that can make you feel worse, it doesn't matter if you eat 6 small snacks per day as long as you eat something!
• Drink plenty of fluids, especially water, what you don't want is to become dehydrated as this will make you feel more nauseas.
• Get plenty of rest and sleep whenever you can, in the early days of your pregnancy it may be hard especially if you are still working and very busy but lack of sleep and relaxation time can make you feel worse.
• Distract yourself from thinking about it by doing something like reading as often the nausea becomes worse the more you think about it.
• Ask those who are closest to you for extra support, it may help if someone else does the cooking in the house if you are nauseas over cooking smells.
• Eat bland food such as baked potato or pasta which are simple to prepare and avoid greasy foods.
• Wear comfortable clothes, even having a waistband on a pair of trousers or skirt that is tight could make you feel worse.

• Dry Biscuits - Ginger biscuits are particularly good
• Dry toast with no margarine or butter on them
• Water
• Soda water
• Anything with ginger in it - ginger soda, ginger snaps/biscuits etc
• Plain Fruit and Vegetables - well washed and prepared

There are also some acupressure bands that you can use to put on your wrists that are said to help combat the nausea

If your symptoms persist in a way that you are unable to tolerate food or even fluids at all for a couple of days then you need to see your doctor. You maybe suffering from a sever form of morning sickness called Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

What is Hyperemesis Gravidarum?

It is a severe form of pregnancy induced nausea and vomiting that can cause dehydration which could lead to other problems such as weight loss, tiredness, dizziness, headaches, palpitations and confusion. It is a condition that would need treatment of intravenous fluids and anti sickness in hospital for a few days.

If this condition was not treated then the woman could be at risk of developing pre-eclampsia, miscarriage, preterm labour and kidney damage.