Suffering from pregnancy sickness? Here’s what you can do about it

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Nausea is one of many pregnancy ailments. Not every woman suffers from it, but the majority of pregnant women do: eight out of ten. It mainly occurs in the first trimester, when your body is working at full capacity to build your baby’s organs. Usually it starts between the fourth and seventh week and peaks around the ninth week. Often the complaints become less after the first trimester.

What do you notice?

A sick feeling, that’s for sure. But the degree differs per woman. One is nauseous all day, the other only suffers from it for a few hours. For many women, the ailment mainly occurs in the morning, which is why it is also called morning sickness.

The cause is not known, however. The pregnancy hormone would play a role; especially if you have more of this hormone in your body. If you have multiple births, you may experience more nausea. It can also run in the family. If it bothers you a lot, there is a good chance that you will have it again during a subsequent pregnancy.

What can you do about it?

There are several tricks to reduce nausea. But here too: whether this works, and to what extent, differs strongly per woman. In any case, it’s worth a try.

• Find out what foods and drinks you tolerate best
• Take small amounts of everything; rather a little a few times a day than three large meals
• Get your rest. Fatigue can make nausea worse
• Ginger would help many women. Think of a ginger biscuit, tea or tablets
• Acupressure (pressure around acupuncture points in your body) can reduce nausea
• Medication can help, but talk to your doctor or midwife first

Extreme nausea

About two percent of pregnant women suffer from a very severe form of morning sickness, where they can hardly keep anything down. This is called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

You can go to the Foundation for Pregnancy and Hyperemesis Gravidarum (ZEHG) for help and contact with other women who are experiencing this.

Source: Home doctor