Signs and Symptoms
of Morning Sickness
Morning sickness is often a unique experience, not only to each individual but for each pregnancy.
You might feel slightly queasy or actually vomit. The nausea and/or vomiting might occur at any time of the day and last an hour or the entire day.
As well as feeling sick you might notice that your sense of smell has increased. This is thought to protect you from cosuming food that could be harmful to your baby.
Food aversions are not often discussed but they can play a key role in morning sickness. The thought, smell, look and texture of certain foods can leave you gagging even talking about certain foods can be enough in extreme cases. You might just have a couple of foods that trouble you or a long long list. Cold bland food that doesn't have a strong taste or smell is normally the least likely to cause sickness.
Morning sickness will normally start around weeks 5-7 easing around week 12 and should be over by week 16.
In some cases morning sickness can be severe and this is a serious condition called hyperemesis gravidarum and needs early assessment and treatment to prevent serious complications
Here is a table for you to compare morning sickness to hyperemesis gravidarum. If you are in any doubt please make sure you discuss your symptoms with your health care provider.
| Morning Sickness | Hyperemesis Gravidarum | |
| You lose little if any weight. |
You lose 5-20 pounds or more or 5% of your pre
pregnancy weight |
|
| Even though you have nausea or vomiting you are
able to eat and drink enough to sustain you each
day |
Your nausea or vomiting are so servere that you
are able to eat very little |
|
| If you vomit it is not frequently and you have
bouts of nausea but it is not severe |
You feel constantly nauseous and vomit frequently.
Your vomit may contain blood or bile |
|
| Diet and lidestyle changes suggested on this
site should make you feel better |
Diet and lifestyle change do not help and you
will require fluids via a drip and medication to
stop the nausea |
|
| The nausea and vomiting resolve after the first
trimester and you do not have further episodes
for the remainder of your pregnancy |
By week 20 you should begin to feel better but
might have episodes of nausea or vomiting during
the remainder of your pregnancy |
|
| You can carry out your daily tasks such as going to work and looking after your family | It is virtually impossible to work for weeks at a time and you might need help to take care oof yourself and your home |
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