Morning sickness

Morning sickness is a pretty inaccurate name for pregnancy sickness.

Firstly it doesn't have to be just in the morning some women experience it in the afternoons, evenings or the night time, secondly its effects can range from a slight feeling of nausea at certain smells to full blown sickness and even hospitalization (although morning sickness this severe is rare).

Morning sickness is some form affects between half and three quarters of pregnant women at the start of their pregnancy and for a few its effects can be felt until the birth of their baby. It normally begins to subside around the 3rd or 4th month of pregnancy.

What can I do to relieve my morning sickness?

There are a number of things you can do to help relieve your morning sickness.
First, it is a good idea to make sure that your stomach doesn?t gettooempty, eat small meals every two to three hours during the day and try to have a snack, perhaps dry crackers or toast before getting up in the morning. The most important thing is not to skip meals as this will make you feel worse.
Second, it is often recommended that you separate eating and drinking, so have a drink shortly before your meal and again shortly afterwards.
Third, drink plenty of water as dehydration will heighten the effects of morning sickness. It is also important to get plenty of rest as again being tired will increase your sickness.
Fourth, try to avoid strong odours as these can often trigger nausea and vomiting.
Fifth, some women swear by ginger, eating some ginger has been reported as reducing the effects of morning sickness, its effects are not proven but it may be worth a try!. Acupressure, Some women claim that their morning sickness has been helped by acupressure such as through the use of sea sickness bands. Again this is not a proven treatment but again is worth a try.

When to seek help

If you think that your morning sickness is getting worse day by day or if you are being sick so much that you are unable to eat or drink properly you should contact your healthcare provider. If you feel that you are unable to cope with the effects of morning sickness i.e it is having a large negative impact on your life and ability to carry out important day to day tasks you should also seek help. There are medical options for treating morning sickness and some women who have very serious morning (called hyperemesis )sickness require hospitalization for dehydration.