Morning Sickness

Morning sickness is one of the first signs and symptoms a woman has to indicate she’s pregnant. It is no fun for the 75% of women who endure this pregnancy symptom. However, contrary to its name, morning sickness can actually happen in the afternoon, evening, and late night hours. In fact, for some of us unlucky ones, it can last all day long.

Usually starting after a couple of weeks into the pregnancy, morning sickness tends to last throughout the entire first trimester, or 14 weeks. Unfortunately, it tends to worsen as the weeks progress, and occasionally it comes and goes during the entire course of the pregnancy. For a lucky 25%, they don’t have any morning sickness.

What Causes Morning Sickness?

There are many different causes that vary from woman to woman. We can really pinpoint one specific trigger or cause of it, but it’s safe to say that hormones (because of their rises in levels) play a major role. Here’s a list of some of the reasons why women experience morning sickness:

• Estrogen levels are quickly rising, especially during the early stages of pregnancy
• Estrogen usually triggers or enhances your sense of smell, and therefore many women have the sudden urge to vomit when certain aromas catch their nostrils
• hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin rises during the early stages of pregnancy
• Gastrointestinal tracts become sensitive, causing a stomach to “turn” or “tie in knots”

Morning Sickness Remedies & Cures

Vitamin B6 is supposed to help ease the nausea during the entire pregnancy. Recommended dosages should be discussed with your doctor. Multivitamins that are taken at the time of conception and during the first few weeks of pregnancy, can reduce the severity of the morning sickness symptoms. Other tips for relieving morning sickness include:

• Stay away from spicy foods, skipping meals or lying down after eating
• Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day and evening
• Eat salty potato chips or soda crackers (soda crackers-15 minutes before getting out of bed in the morning)
• Exercise, not excessively but try to do it daily
• Sniff or smell lemons or ginger, drink lemonade, or eat watermelon to relieve nausea