What to do for pregnancy nausea?
Pregnancy is an enriching experience for the to-be-mother. How many ever times she has been pregnant, each pregnancy has its own milestones and bad days. The worst days would definitely have to be the first trimester because of the morning sickness or pregnancy nausea. On an average more than seventy percent of the pregnant mothers would suffer from morning sickness. As you can see, there is a good reason to title this article “What to do for pregnancy nausea”.
What are the symptoms of pregnancy nausea?
Normally, nausea is supposed to be experienced in the mornings. But nausea and vomiting could occur throughout the day. In the first few weeks of pregnancy, there could be increased salivation. The nose could become more sensitive to smells of particular types of food. During the eleventh to the thirteenth week, the morning sickness will generally reach its peak. The vomiting and nausea will subside by itself around the end of the fourth month or the sixteenth week onwards. A little awareness about excessive vomiting is always advisable.
What if there is excessive vomiting more than nausea?
Sometimes less than one percent of pregnant women would vomit excessively or suffer from severe morning sickness. This extreme case of vomiting is called as Hyperemesis gravidarum. In most of these cases, there is continuous vomiting because of which there could be weight loss of almost of five percent. There is dehydration also. Therefore if there is excessive vomiting, one will definitely have to meet the health care provider.
Are there any remedies to hyperemesis gravidarum?
Depending on the severity of the vomiting, one could seek the health-care provider’s assistance or choose any of the self-care remedies at home. The extreme cases will definitely require medical treatment.
The health provider could provide fluid intravenously or orally or use other medications to bring the severe vomiting under control. Plenty of fluids will be given in the form of electrolytes like potassium. Sometimes vitamin B1 called as thiamine, may be injected or administered intravenously. Once the body begins to regain these fluids, the practitioner would then prescribe the anti nausea drugs. If the severity of the condition continues, then hospitalization will be required.
Which are the issues arising from pregnant nausea or vomiting?
Experts believe that pregnancy vomiting could have been one of the main reasons why early humans had an advantage during their evolutionary process. The probabilities that women with normal vomiting would carry a baby to full term are higher than those who do not show any vomiting symptoms during pregnancy.
One of the issues arising out of severe pregnancy vomiting is that the weight of the new born baby could be very low. Another important cause of concern would be the very slow growth rate of the fetus growing within such women affected by severe pregnant vomiting. The fear is that the common mile stones for the growth of the fetus cannot be achieved unless the severe vomiting is not treated immediately. Everyday there is growth and sensitive development within the fetus. Therefore even the loss of one or two days could have a great impact on the overall development of the fetus.
Here is a forewarning for the mothers-to-be. If they begin to feel that their vomiting is severe, they should seek medical intervention to quickly bring the vomiting to normal levels. They could also experiment with alternative remedies like acupressure to subdue pregnancy nausea and have a pleasant pregnancy.
24 Home Remedies for Pregnancy Nausea
Nausea and vomiting related to pregnancy affects almost all women who are pregnant. It is commonly also called morning or evening sickness. This may well look like bad news, but the good news is that there are many home remedies for pregnancy nausea. These remedies are listed below:
1. Try to take a lot of rest.
2. Smells that you cannot tolerate during pregnancy can increase the feeling of nausea. So when required smell a fresh lime peel until the nausea bout passes.
3. Drinking ginger tea in the morning and evening when you feel nausea helps relieve the symptoms.
4. Make sure you are not gobbling your food. Chew on it well.
5. Do not stay empty stomach; if you are working take fruits and some biscuits for the day or to eat at work.
6. Also keep a snack by the bed to eat before you lift your head from the pillow in the morning. Then, get up slowly.
7. Have a snack high in proteins before settling in for the night. Stock a snack by your bedside for the night in case you wake up.
8. Eat a low fat diet and high in proteins, salt and carbohydrate.
9. Do not drink carbonated drinks. Instead, opt for fresh fruit juices during the day.
10. Take plenty of greens. Avoid red meat as it is high in fat and results in fattening you.
11. Eat whole grain bread or breads rich with 6 grains.
12. You can consume wheat germ in milk – mash up the sprouts and mix it in milk and drink a few teaspoons of the mixture every few hours in the afternoon.
13. Avoid stuffy places and keep some pleasing aromas like lavender freshening the room; however it should not be very strong aroma since it will aggravate the vomiting sensations.
14. Chew on the peel of ginger root to help put down the nausea.
15. There are acupressure wrist bands available which you can wear to control the feelings of nausea.
16. Use chamomile oil to massage your body at a Spa to relax gently.
17. Consume your fresh juices including water between meals rather than with a meal.
18. Stay away from greasy cuisines.
19. Change the time for taking your vitamins from mornings and evenings to day-time.
20. Get a change of supplementary iron content you consume.
21. Go for walks in the park and get plenty of fresh air.
22. Eat and suck on frozen lemon flavored ice creams.
23. Eat all you want without any restriction but limit to a healthy diet.
24. Eating sour foods like vinegar based cuisine also helps reduce sensations of nausea.
Even if all these remedies fail rest assured that nausea and vomiting are not here to stay – by the end of the 4th month you should be getting relief and all nausea will stop. Unless the nausea takes on undue proportions, there is nothing to worry at all. The above given home remedies will abate the nausea positively. You should try these as remedies for pregnancy nausea and you will certainly enjoy the prospects of becoming a mother soon.
Pregnancy Nausea – How Early Does it Start?
During pregnancy nausea, how early it starts for many women is usually at around the first half or first trimester. It affects almost 75-85% of all pregnant women. Symptoms include uneasy feeling or sickness and vomiting. There’s no definite period of this symptom since it varies from individual to individual. However, studies show that nausea disappears more or less towards the end of the third month. This is roughly during 12th week of pregnancy. Nausea may relapse at the end of the fifth month.
These symptoms are also referred as Morning Sickness. It is also called nausea gravidarum or emesis gravidarum. Pregnancy Sickness is yet another term for morning sickness.
Causes of Nausea during pregnancy
During pregnancy, there’s hormonal change in the body along with rise and fall of the estrogen level. There’s even fluctuation of the blood sugar level. The pregnancy hormone HCG (released after the implant of the baby) is also considered a factor for nausea.
Symptoms of Pregnancy Nausea
The symptoms that nausea/vomiting will occur are:
1) Feeling thirsty
2) Inadequate or no urination
3) Dark colored urine
4) Dehydration
5) Detection of ketenes in urine (A General Practitioner/Health Assistants can conduct this test)
Ways to avoid nausea
During Morning Hours:
1) Do not jump out of bed.
2) Its better to eat something after waking up (before getting out of bed).
3) Do not brush teeth immediately after eating. Doing so may cause you to throw up.
During the day:
1) Eat small (light) meals even if there’s no hunger.
2) Food with spices and high fat should be avoided.
3) Protein content should be high in the food.
3) Drinking plenty of liquid (water and fruit juice) is compulsory. Herbal tea or ginger tea is also highly recommended.
4) Bread-toast, dry crackers, etc should be included in the meals.
5) Sit for sometime after meals. Do not lie on your back immediately.
6) No alcohol, tobacco or caffeine during pregnancy.
7) Take adequate rest during the day. Do not lie flat. Use pillow under the head and legs.
Exercise (small walk) at evening-time is very helpful. Same can be done during the morning hours also after a very light meal.
During Bed-Time:
1) Snacks such as bread, milk, yoghurt, cereals, etc are ideal for dinner. Vegetable sandwich will also do.
2) Eating a small snack at mid-night is never harmful if the need arises.
3) Bed-room should be well-ventilated. There should not be any discomforting smell. It’s a very common cause for vomiting.
When to consult a doctor?
1) Vomiting 3 – 4 times a day or more.
2) Presence of blood or dark mucus in vomit.
3) Loss of too much weight.
4) Loss of liquid from the body is more than intake
Dealing with nausea at work
Given below are some helpful tips for those who can’t avoid work during the early phase of pregnancy.
1) No fried food – as simple as that. Feel free to enjoy grilled chicken, bananas, cheese, etc.
2) Emergency Kit: Napkins, plastic bag, toothbrush, toothpaste, ginger tea-bag, lip balm (lemon flavor/scented)
3) Apart from lunch, prepare some snacks as well. If vomiting occurs, this will help to avoid an empty stomach.
4) Say goodbye to group dining till delivery.
Nausea during pregnancy is never harmful for the baby. In fact, the pregnant woman can keep it down by avoiding an empty stomach. That way, the baby gets the required nutrients for its normal growth and development. In case of severe vomiting which is quite rare and occurs among roughly 1% of pregnancies, a doctor (gynecologist) should be consulted immediately. The best way to avoid is to never remain empty stomach.
