Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, often known as morning sickness, is very common in early pregnancy.
It can affect you at any time of the day or night, and some women feel sick all day long.
Morning sickness is unpleasant, and for some women, it can significantly affect their day-to-day life. But it doesn’t put your baby at any increased risk, and usually clears up by weeks 16 to 20 of your pregnancy.
Some women develop a severe form of pregnancy sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum. This can be serious, and there’s a chance you may not get enough fluids in your body (dehydration) or not get enough nutrients from your diet (malnourishment). You may need specialist treatment, sometimes in the hospital.
Sometimes urinary tract infections (UTIs) can also cause nausea and vomiting. A UTI usually affects the bladder, but can spread to the kidneys.
Call your midwife or GP immediately if you’re vomiting and:
have very dark-colored urine or have not had a pee in more than 8 hours
- are unable to keep food or fluids down for 24 hours
- feel severely weak, dizzy or faint when standing up
- have tummy (abdominal) pain
- have pain or blood when you pee
- have lost weight
- These can be signs of dehydration or a urine infection.
Treatments for morning sickness
Unfortunately, there’s no hard and fast treatment that will work for every woman’s morning sickness. Every pregnancy will be different.
But there are some changes you can make to your diet and daily life to try to ease the symptoms.
If these don’t work for you or you’re having more severe symptoms, your doctor or midwife might recommend medication.
Things you can try yourself
If your morning sickness isn’t too bad, your GP or midwife will initially recommend you try some lifestyle changes:
- get plenty of rest (tiredness can make nausea worse)
- avoid foods or smells that make you feel sick
- eat something like dry toast or a plain biscuit before you get out of bed
- eat small, frequent meals of plain foods that are high in carbohydrate and low in fat (such as bread, rice, crackers, and pasta)
- eat cold foods rather than hot ones if the smell of hot meals makes you feel sick
- drink plenty of fluids, such as water (sipping them little and often may help prevent vomiting)
- eat foods or drinks containing ginger – there’s some evidence ginger may help reduce nausea and vomiting (check with your pharmacist before taking ginger supplements during pregnancy)
- try acupressure – there’s some evidence that putting pressure on your wrist, using a special band or bracelet on your forearm, may help relieve the symptoms
- take prenatal food supplement to get enough vitamin and nutrition for you and your fetus.
