Along with the news of the Duchess of Cambridge expecting her second child came word of another bout of severe morning sickness. 75-percent of pregnant women experience some form of nausea and/or vomiting in the first trimester, likely related to hormonal change from pregnancy. In this edition of Vital Signs, Dr. David Nelson, an OB/GYN at Parkland Hospital, explains the former Kate Middleton’s situation isn’t unusual.
From the interview with Dr. Nelson…
Severe morning sickness: We know that women who’ve have problems with nausea and vomiting in their first pregnancy may very well have it again. She (Duchess) has a severe form of nausea and vomiting which is referred to hyperemesisgravidarum, which occurs in one to two percent of women. The concern we have is that any woman experience nausea and vomiting to the point of dehydration, or the inability to gain appropriate weight, or in the worst case, lose weight, we consider to be severe.
Is it dangerous to the child? It would require extensive, extreme starvation before we would see true effects to the fetus, and typically most of the cases, quite fortunately, are mild.
Who is are likely to have morning sickness? Women that have a family history of nausea and vomiting. Women that experiences with motion sickness. Women that may or may not have twin gestation. Folks who receive multivitamins at the time of their conception actually have a reduced risk of morning sickness.
How do you relieve or manage morning sickness? Avoid high fat, spicy foods that may exacerbate their symptoms. Ginger, for example, is an option that may benefit. One of the first line of therapies is vitamin B6, which is a co-enzyme used in the metabolism of the body. To improve their symptoms, we often encourage them to use small frequent bland meals and frequent meals as early as before they get out of bed to take a small meal to keep something on their stomach to prevent the mausea.
For more information:
American Pregnancy Association
Morning sickness: Causes, concerns, treatments
