Being a mother is the best feeling of any female. Mothers are the only ones who are connected with the baby even before the birth of an infant. The mother undergoes a lot of physical, emotional, hormonal, and mental changes during pregnancy. Some mothers have a smooth pregnancy, whereas some might have a few challenges like morning sickness during pregnancy. However, 70 to 80 % of mothers suffer from morning sickness during the initial stages of pregnancy. As the name suggests, most of the time morning sickness is experienced on an empty stomach during the mornings, but it can also occur at any time of the day. This can be dealt with a proper medical and dietary intervention.
A] Understanding What Is Morning Sickness?
Morning sickness is the feeling of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. This usually occurs during the first trimester or the initial three months of the pregnancy. As the pregnancy progresses, the occurrence of morning sickness also reduces. Mild to moderate morning sickness can be treated at home with minimal dietary and lifestyle changes. Severe morning sickness can cause the mother to go into dehydration. To prevent this, saline or IV infusion is recommended. It generally starts during 8 to 9 weeks of pregnancy, peaks at the 10th week and ends by the 13th week, but it can vary for different females. It can be triggered by certain smells or sights of food.
B] What Are The Common Symptoms Of Morning Sickness?
Nausea and vomiting are the main symptoms of morning sickness, but it can also manifest,
- Acid reflux causing heartburn
- Motion sickness
- Feeling of choking
- Severe hunger pangs
Until you eat something, these feelings can last for a few minutes to an hour. But if there is severe vomiting more than four times, then this condition is known as hyperemesis gravidarum. This can lead to severe dehydration and might lead to complications in pregnancy. Thus, it is advisable, to consult the doctor if the symptoms persist for long.
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C] What Are The Causes And Risk Factors?
There is no specific reason for the morning sickness in pregnancy. But, hormonal changes play a major part in contributing to morning sickness. If the female is already suffering from thyroid, it worsens the experience of morning sickness. The other causes of morning sickness are excess saliva production, low blood sugars, high pregnancy hormones, metabolic changes, heat, stress or anxiety.
Hyperemesis gravidarum can cause dehydration along with low production of urine, passing dark-coloured urine, and feeling of dizziness while standing. This can also affect the appetite and instead of putting on weight, the mother can lose weight. No proper nutrition can lead to less food supply to the foetus and can cause malnutrition. It is thus, necessary to follow healthy Pregnancy Nutrition.
D] 10 Tips To Deal With Morning Sickness
In the below tips write in detail how incorporating these tips can make your life easy and how it will help.
1. Lie Down And Take Deep Breaths
Pregnancy itself is a stress to the body, which can worsen nausea. It is best to rest as much as possible, sleep for 7 to 8 hours, lie down and take deep breaths whenever you experience nausea. This reduces stress and thereby reduces nausea.
2. Adjust Your Computer/Phone Screen
Constantly looking down at the phone screen or looking at the computer screen might trigger nausea. The brightness and bold fonts can also cause nausea. It is recommended to adjust the screen at a comfortable angle and to soft hues which does not trigger nausea.
3. Add Ginger In Your Diet
Ginger is said to reduce acidity, aid digestion and prevent vomiting and it is one of the best foods for morning sickness. Adding ginger to your diet either chewing it raw or adding it to your foods or in the form of infused water might help reduce the morning sickness symptoms.
4. Get Enough Vitamins
Morning sickness severely affects the food preferences of mothers. Inadequate nutrition might lead to a deficiency of micronutrients and malnutrition in the foetus and mother. Vitamins like B6 also help to relieve symptoms like nausea and vomiting. It is always advisable to start vitamin supplements with the guidance of the doctors.
5. Stay Hydrated
Consume as much water as you can if you suffer from morning sickness. Excess vomiting can cause dehydration. If you don’t feel like consuming plain water try other fluids like fruit or vegetable juice, infused water, buttermilk, dals, soups, shakes, or smoothies. Consume these foods with professional advice only from qualified dieticians to avoid any complications.
6. Be Physically Active
Morning sickness makes you feel dull and lethargic the whole day. To ward off this dull feeling, try and remain active as much as possible. You can either start walking, swimming or any other activity that you are comfortable performing under the guidance of the doctor.
7. Avoid Strong Smells
The hormonal changes in the body during pregnancy makes all the senses sensitive. Even the slightest of smells can cause nausea. Certain smells like perfumes, garbage, food aroma, and incense smoke can trigger nausea. At such times try to smell something fresh like citrus smells, mint or aqua smell or just a whiff of natural fresh air can solve the issue.
8. Avoid Spicy And Fatty Foods
The hormonal changes during pregnancy along with nausea can lead to heartburn and nausea. Spicy foods trigger more acid production worsening the heartburn. Fatty foods too lead to bloating, acidity and hyperemesis. Avoid spicy and fatty foods to prevent morning sickness.
9. Take Adequate Rest
There are days when you wake up tired during pregnancy. This can trigger your nausea. It is best to rest whenever you feel a bit under the weather or feel sick. Resting reduces the occurrence of morning sickness. You can take a day off from work or go for a leisure trip, complete your beauty sleep of 7 to 8 hours, or take a mid-day nap.
10. Eat Small Meals
During pregnancy, there is a lot of issue of heartburn and acidity. It is always better to eat small meals but frequently to avoid these symptoms. Make sure the meals are nutrition-dense to prevent any nutritional deficiency. Start your day with a toast or warm liquids to avoid morning sickness.
E] When To Visit A Doctor
Usually, morning sickness can be tackled beautifully at home. But there are times when the symptoms worsen or the above-mentioned morning sickness remedies do not work, it is best to visit your private gynaecologist. It is better to get professional help than to suffer. Visit your doctor if you can’t keep down your food or liquid, have dark-coloured urine or pass a very small quantity of urine, suffer from nausea for almost the whole day, vomit more than four times in a day, have palpitations, feel dizziness while standing, excess weight loss, or suffer from high temperature.
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Conclusion
Do not let morning sickness spoil the joy and excitement of becoming a mother. Morning sickness does not directly affect the foetus but should not be neglected. Morning sickness can be easily managed at home by following these above-mentioned tips, but do visit the doctor if necessary. Keep a check on the symptoms, triggers and remedies that work for you to make your pregnancy simple and stress-free. Contact Us to handle such pregnancy sickness to make your pregnancy journey worthwhile and beautiful.
Neha Goel
Neha Goel, a Psychology alumna and MBA graduate from CASS Business School, London, brings together her expertise as a Reiki Practitioner and Practice Manager. She integrates psychology and business strategies to foster holistic well-being and personal development.