Can Morning Sickness Hurt My Baby
Although you might be feeling sick, your baby almost definitely isn’t. In the short term, not eating very much isn’t a problem. Your baby is teeny tiny when morning sickness is at its worst and doesn’t have very much in the way of nutritional needs yet. By the time he does, you’ll almost certainly have your appetite back, in spades!
Even women who have such a hard time keeping food down that they actually lose weight during the first trimester arent hurting their babies, as long as they make up for the lost weight, as needed, in later months.
Keep an eye on your urine: It should be clear or light-colored, like straw. If its darker, you may be dehydrated. Be sure to drink up, since staying hydrated during pregnancy ensures your baby is getting the essentials he needs for healthy development.
If youre not able to keep anything down, including fluids, it may be a symptom of hyperemesis gravidarum a more serious condition that affects up to 3 percent of women with morning sickness. If your nausea is continuous and severe and you vomit several times a day, make sure to see your doctor. You may require additional treatment to protect yourself and your baby.
Eat A Littleand Then A Little More
Many women find that grazing all day settles their stomach. “I call it the Six Meal Solution,” says Murkoff. “When your tummy is empty, the stomach acids have nothing to feast on but your stomach lining, compounding nausea. On the other hand, eating too much can overtax the digestive system, also leading to quease. Keeping your tummy a little bit full all day and all night is the best defense against morning sickness.”
Murkoff suggests keeping a snack stash nearby at all times. Nibbling a little bit before you get out of bed in the morning can stave off nausea, and a light bedtime snack will stabilize your blood sugar throughout the night. Eating small snacks throughout the day also enables you to keep some food in your stomach at all times.
How To Help Morning Sickness
Pregnancy is an amazing ride, but the morning sickness that often accompanies it isn’t so great. According to Marjorie Greenfield, M.D., an OB-GYN and author of The Working Woman’s Pregnancy Book, approximately 70 percent of women experience nausea early in pregnancy and about 50 percent experience vomiting. “It’s very, very common, but it’s also incredibly varied,” Dr. Greenfield says. “Lots of people are sick all day, some are sick mostly in the evening, and others are sick if they haven’t gotten enough sleep.”
So when do you get morning sickness? Pregnancy nausea can start as early as six weeks and tends to peak around the eighth and ninth weeks, according to Dr. Greenfield.
If you’re tired of feeling queasy, check out these 15 tips for how to stop morning sickness.
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What Does Pregnancy Nausea Feel Like
How pregnancy nausea feels varies among women, and can even feel different to the same woman at different times of the day.
Pregnancy nausea or morning sickness can feel like:
- A general, lingering sense of feeling like you need to vomit, but without the urgency to do so.
- A sudden, urgent need to vomit.
- A feeling that youre hungry, but without the ability to stomach anything.
- Dizziness or weakness.
Some women experience nausea during pregnancy and never actually vomit, while others vomit several times a day. The vomiting can sometimes provide a reprieve from nausea, until it returns.
Pregnancy nausea is often exacerbated by the intense fatigue that is also experienced during the first trimester.
My first pregnancy I felt nauseous in the morning and my second it felt like motion sickness up until the second trimester.
Editors Note:
Exhaustion and tiredness can even cause nausea in a person who isnt pregnant. So, the fact that women in their first trimester have a double whammy of both exhaustion and nausea can make them compound one another.
Avoid Cooking Odors As Much As Possible
If you can have someone else cook for you, that is ideal. If thats not an option, ventilate your kitchen well while cooking. Open the windows, use the fan and, as long as nothing is cooking on the stovetop, leave the room to avoid inhaling cooking odors. Avoiding scents and odors in general is a good ideaperfumes, air fresheners, trash, etc.especially when youre not feeling well.
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What Caused Nausea During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a lot related to vomiting and nauseathe morning sickness. In early pregnancy, hormones such are progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin are boostedup. The sudden increased of such hormones causes nausea and vomiting because your body is adjusting to the new level of those circulating hormones.
Other Tips For Treating Nausea
Besides consuming certain foods and beverages, you can take other steps to relieve your nausea :
- Eat something small every 12 hours: Avoid skipping meals, as an empty stomach can worsen nausea.
- Eat and drink slowly and in small amounts: This allows you to relax during meals and take time to enjoy your food. You may also want to avoid consuming liquids and solids at the same time.
- Do not lie flat after eating: Avoid lying down for at least 30 minutes after eating, as this can put pressure on your stomach, making nausea worse.
- Avoid food preparation: The smell while cooking and preparing food can worsen nausea. If possible, avoid or shorten the time spent in the kitchen.
- Keep your mouth clean: Nausea and vomiting can leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth, which may prevent you from eating. Rinse and brush your teeth regularly and use sugar-free mints to keep feeling fresh.
In addition, avoid the following types of foods when you feel nauseous (
- Caffeine
Summary
You can take additional steps to treat nausea by avoiding certain foods, eating small, regular snacks or meals, consuming liquids and solids separately, avoiding food preparation, sitting up after eating and keeping your mouth fresh and clean.
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Keep Your Mouth Squeaky Clean
Regular brushing helps keep your mouth fresh and reduces queasiness in the future. It also decreases the risk of damage to teeth from vomiting.
Brush your teeth or rinse your mouth after each meal and after bouts of vomiting once your tummy has settled a bit. If your usual toothpaste contributes to nausea , ask your dentist to recommend another option or a good rinse. Or use plain water.
Keep Physically And Mentally Active
Being physically active has been found to improve symptoms in women who experience nausea during pregnancy.
Keeping busy can help take your mind off the feelings of nausea. Reading a book, doing puzzles, watching television, playing cards, or going for short walks around the block will help to keep you preoccupied.
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Tips To Help Manage Morning Sickness
There is no one approach that will work for every woman with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy as each pregnancy is different.
Here is a list of some small changes you can make that may help to ease your symptoms:
In addition to trying to alleviate the symptoms of nausea and vomiting, dont forget to protect your tooth enamel if you are vomiting a lot. Try rinsing your mouth with a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a cup of water to help neutralize the acid produced by the vomiting.
Understand What Morning Sickness Feels Like
The symptoms of morning sickness are, of course, nausea and vomiting. Experts say that while nausea can last all day, it is not expected that women will vomit throughout the day. They also note that mothers should be able to keep down at least some food and liquids. There are other potential effects of morning sickness for instance, you may feel worse when in motion and strong odors may bother you.
In addition to its physical impact, morning sickness can take an economic and emotional toll. Women may have to miss work or might be less functional due to their symptoms, whether at the office or at home taking care of others. Some may feel isolated if their symptoms are so extreme that they cant leave the house. They may also have to contend with the medical costs of doctors visits and medications.
Morning sickness has a silver lining though: researchers have found that mild nausea and vomiting are associated with better pregnancy outcomes. Moderate morning sickness, it appears, may have a protective effect.
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Possible Causes Of Morning Sickness
The cause of morning sickness remains a mystery, but it is thought a combination of physical and metabolic factors play a significant role, including:
- High levels of hormones, including oestrogen
- Fluctuations in blood pressure, particularly lowered blood pressure
- Altered metabolism of carbohydrates
- The enormous physical and chemical changes that pregnancy triggers.
Talk About Your Morning Sickness
You may be all about self-sufficiency and powering through your pregnancy, but being vocal about your feelings can help alleviate morning sickness misery. Your partner probably doesn’t know that their scented soap makes you queasy, or that giving you a kiss post pizza dinner, without brushing their teeth first gets your gag reflex going. So tell them, and let them know what little changes they can make to help you feel better.
Your pregnancy nausea may seem to come and go, but by tuning into your body and surroundings, you might find the queasiness isn’t so random. If you find yourself getting nauseated at the same time every evening, says Erick, it may be from the smells of your neighbors’ cooking. Queasy at 3 p.m.? A coworker’s afternoon popcorn habit could be the culprit. Once you’ve identified morning sickness triggers, you can take the appropriate steps to avoid them whenever possible.
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Guard Against Unpleasant Smells
When youre pregnant, you expect your body to change. But who knew that your sensitivity to smells would change as well? The hormonal changes that accompany pregnancy can even turn once-appealing smells into unpleasant, even intolerable, nausea triggers.
That means that the smell of your favorite meal may now make you want to throw up. Talk about frustrating!
If you find that your sense of smell is becoming more sensitive, we suggest you avoid heavy odors like tobacco, perfumes, and exhaust from vehicles. If you encounter a smell that triggers your nausea, excuse yourself as quickly as possible and find fresh air away from the odor.
If you cant get away from the trigger smell, try breathing through your mouth instead of your nose. And dont worry about what others may think if you have to excuse yourself. Theyre not pregnant.
Open A Window Or Sit In Front Of A Fan
Theres a reason you see carsick people with their heads practically hanging out of the car window. Fresh air eases nausea symptoms in many people, although its not clear why. It may get rid of sickening odors, or simply help you focus on something other than the nausea.
Try sitting in front of a fan or window at the first sign of nausea, especially if youre overheated.
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When All Else Fails
Most nausea and vomiting in pregnancy can be managed using the above recommendations, but if youre not finding relief, here are some safe over-the-counter medications to consider:
- For reasons not entirely understood, vitamin B6 supplementation can reduce nausea. Take one 25 mg tablet three times a day, taking caution not to exceed 200 mg a day. Note that prenatal vitamins contain B6, so factor that into your daily allotment.
- Doxylamine, an antihistamine, is sold under the brand name Unisom as a sleep aid and is safe to take during pregnancy to help reduce vomiting. Take half a tablet in the morning and one whole tablet before bed, but be careful not to take before driving as it can cause drowsiness. Research indicates that vitamin B6 and doxylamine are most effective when taken together, so we recommend a combination of the two for maximum symptom reduction.
- Benadryl, another antihistamine, is safe for reducing nausea and vomiting. Take one 25 mg tablet orally four times a day. This may also make your sleepy.
Treatments For Morning Sickness
Unfortunately, there’s no hard and fast treatment that will work for everyones morning sickness. Every pregnancy will be different.
But there are some changes you can make to your diet and daily life to try to ease the symptoms.
If these do not work for you or you’re having more severe symptoms, your doctor or midwife might recommend medicine.
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Who Is Likely To Experience Nausea
As many as 90 percent of women experience some level of pregnancy nausea, so your chances of encountering it are quite high. And while there arent specific risk factors to notify you in advance whether youll be one of those women, there is one group who experiences morning sickness more frequently than others mamas carrying multiples.
This is theorized to occur because of the higher levels of hCG from carrying more than one baby. Since hCG appears to be the main cause of pregnancy nausea, it makes sense that having more of it coursing through your body could put you at greater risk of morning sickness.
But what about previous bouts of pregnancy nausea? If youve had it in one pregnancy, are you guaranteed to have it in subsequent pregnancies?
If Youve Had It Before, You Might Dodge It Next Time
The only exception to this is for women who experience Hyperemesis Gravidarum , which is a severe form of pregnancy sickness that occurs in about one percent of pregnancies. Unfortunately, if youve had HG during one pregnancy, youre likely to have it in subsequent ones.
No matter how nauseous you are, remember what food you do take in the nutrients will get to the baby! Try your best to stay hydrated as best you can.
Additional Tips To Reduce Nausea
In addition to the tips above, a few other recommendations may decrease the likelihood of nausea or help relieve its symptoms. The most common include :
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How Long Does Pregnancy Nausealast
The one thing that pregnant women who are suffering from pregnancy-related sickness want to know when nausea will end. According to the American Pregnancy Association, the sickness as it was mentioned previously begins on average around 6 weeks and hits its peak at 9 weeks which is when the hormones are peaking at its highest. And by the time the second trimester rolls around which is between 13 to 14 weeks, the sickness usually subsides. That is when the hormones are leveling out.
However, even if that is being the case, therewill likely be moments of queasiness throughout the pregnancy because thehormones are still taking over even if the worst of it is over. And, during thethird trimester, sickness can return but mostly because of the fact that thebaby is so large at that point that its pushing the organs out of place. Thatis also why heartburn is the worst at that point, which is also experiencedalong with nausea in the first trimester due to the rise in hormonal levels.
However, in the case of hyperemesisgravidarum, unfortunately, extreme sickness usually lasts throughout the entirepregnancy. And very few remedies can help with that. The good news is when itcomes to typical pregnancy sickness, there are plenty of home remedies that canbe utilized to help with the symptoms which have not been mentioned as of yet.Lets go over that now.
Other Ways To Deal With Nausea During Pregnancy:
- An empty stomach can worsen sickness, so avoid skipping meals. Eat every 1 to 2 hours.
- Small, frequent meals and drinks are best. As a result, you can enjoy your meal more while taking time to relax.
- Do not lie down for at least 30 minutes after consuming, since this can put pressure on your stomach, making you feel nauseous.
- Cooking and preparing food can worsen nausea. It is best to avoid or shorten the time spent in the kitchen. Particularly during your early pregnancy.
- Vomiting and nausea can leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth, which may prevent you from eating. Keep your breath fresh by brushing your teeth regularly and using sugar-free mints.
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Morning Sickness And Your Baby
Some women are concerned that the action of vomiting may threaten their unborn baby. Vomiting and retching may strain the abdominal muscles and cause localised aching and soreness, but the physical mechanics of vomiting wont harm the baby. The fetus is perfectly cushioned inside its sac of amniotic fluid.Numerous studies have discovered that moderate morning sickness is associated with a reduced risk of miscarriage. However, prolonged vomiting can deprive your child of proper nutrition and increase the risk of your baby being underweight at birth.If you have nausea and vomiting that will not stop, contact your doctor or midwife.
Ginger And Peppermint Teas
Ginger has long been used to aid digestion and reduce abdominal discomfort. Studies show that it may also help relieve the symptoms of nausea.
Other options are to sip cold ginger ale or to add a slice of raw ginger to water or tea.
Snacks such as gingerbread, or ginger cookies may also help.
Peppermint tea may also help settle the stomach.
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