Nausea And Vomiting During Pregnancy

Hi,

I am Dr. Anu Sidana, Gynaecologist. Today I will talk about nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. 70% of expecting mothers are suffering from this problem. And this is most common. It usually occurs 5-8 weeks of the pregnancy. The severity of the symptoms may vary from patient to patient. This is also known as morning sickness because most of the women suffer in the morning time. The exact cause is still unknown. But studies suggest, that increased level of pregnancy hormones is responsible for this problem. Genetics and psychological factors are also responsible for this.

Who are the patients in which this is more common? This happens in the first pregnancy. Patents who are having multiple pregnancies like twins, triplet, abnormal tissue growth in the uterus also represents the symptoms. Sometimes there could be non-obstetrical causes like surgical causes, pathology in the liver, any infection or gallstones. Now, when to seek help? Mild nausea and vomiting are well tolerated by the patient. But as most of the women can't sit ideal at home with nausea and vomiting, so they need treatment for it. So, if the patient is having this problem persistently and having fever, diarrhea or there is significant weight loss, you should report tour Dr. We advice the patient dietary and lifestyle changes also to avoid the risk of nausea and vomiting. We have the patient by asking them to have small and frequent meals i.e. 6 meals a day. We always ask the patient to have parle-G or sunfeast biscuit before leaving the bed.

Then do brushing and then they will feel less nausea and vomiting. They should avoid chemical use like any odor or any species, fat-food, stuff room, noise. All these should be avoided by the patient. We always ask patients to walk for around 10-15 minutes after having a meal. We also start iron and calcium capsules. She should not take iron at bedtime because iron adds on gastritis. All these methods decrease the severity of nausea and vomiting. But if these things do not help the patient then we suggest some medications in the form of vitamin as well as other nutrition supplements. Most of the patients improve with the medications as well as dietary and lifestyle modification.

But, sometimes the condition can be more severe. The patient may have persistent vomiting throughout the day and she is having weight loss for more than 5% which is associated with dehydration. In such cases, the patient should be admitted. With the help of the treatment and a few changes, the patient improves and the condition is also treatable. Most of the patients may face mild or moderate nausea and vomiting which is treatable with diet and medicines. The patient should take the treatment in a positive way as their baby is growing well. They should consider all these things physiological and be safe, be active.

Thank You!