Morning sickness

Morning sickness is the term used to refer to nausea or vomiting experienced by pregnant women during any time of the day.  Most pregnant women experience nausea, but about 65% of them excessive vomiting as well. This usually begins in the first month and goes on until the 15th or the 16th week of pregnancy. Unless there is a persistent weight loss, morning sickness is not much of a concern and doesn’t have any effect on the baby.  Each individual may suffer from varying degrees of morning sickness, and it may not be the same during future pregnancies. The exact cause for morning sickness is not known and it is deduced that the hormonal changes or the lower blood glucose levels during the early weeks of pregnancy may be the cause. Sometimes excess physical activity, emotional stress, traveling, few food products may aggravate the condition.
There are few home remedies which are followed by people to tackle the morning sickness. Having a toast or some crackers first thing in the morning even before getting out of the bed, or having bedtime snacks, snacking frequently during the day in regular intervals of 1 or 2 hours instead of large meals also helps. Including high protein and complex carbohydrates food in the diet and minimizing the intake of salt and fat helps to reduce the morning sickness.
If the morning sickness is extreme where the nausea and vomiting persists then the condition is known as Hyperemesis gravidarium and it leads to dehydration and weight loss. It is advisable to visit the doctor if the morning sickness persists even after trying out the home remedies, if one vomits more than 3 -4 times a day, blood in the vomit or lose more than 2 pounds. In these cases, the doctor should run diagnostic tests on the blood and urine samples of the patient.