Morning Sickness Causes
Morning sickness is also known as Hyperemesis or pregnancy or nausea of pregnancy. Though most people call it morning sickness, it doesn’t only occur in the morning. It can happen any time of the day. However, in several cases it does start off first thing in the morning.
The name morning sickness is rather misleading. It is not a sickness but a normal part of pregnancy and is actually a good indicator of health in your baby.
When do You Get Morning Sickness?
pregnancy—luca 76 (Flickr.com)
In most cases it only lasts for the First Trimester (three month stage or period) of pregnancy, but it may in some cases continue throughout pregnancy. It is believed the reason for the nausea and vomiting is because your new pregnancy hormone levels such as Progesterone are elevated – which is a healthy sign that your pregnancy is progressing. These hormone levels in a pregnant woman are thought to be highest during the the first trimester.
On the other hand, if you don’t experience any such discomfort during your pregnancy, you should not worry that your baby is unhealthy. It has been found that 25% of women experience no symptoms at all.
Women More Likely to Experience Morning Sickness
Some women suffer more severe symptoms than others. These include:
- women who are pregnant with multiple babies (expecting twins, triplets or more).
- women who were previously on birth control pills and felt nausea during this period
- women who commonly suffer from motion or travel sickness or
- women who have very close (1st degree) female relatives who also experienced morning sickness e.g. sisters.
It has also been found that women who have several pregnancies are more likely to experience nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. In other cases while the symptoms don’t disappear entirely, they do decrease as the pregnancy develops further.