One-half of all pregnant women experience both nausea and vomiting during the first months of pregnancy. Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy tend to be the worst 8 to 10 weeks after your last menstrual period. It usually goes away by 12 to 16 weeks after your last period. Although this is called “morning sickness,” it can occur anytime of the day.
Mild to moderate nausea and vomiting may make you feel terrible, but it will not hurt you or your baby. Severe vomiting during pregnancy (prevents you from keeping any food down) is called hyperemesis gravidarum. It is rare, but can cause health problems.
Call your health care provider if you:
- Are not able to keep any liquids or foods down for 24 hours.
- Are vomiting several times a day or after every meal.
- Have abdominal pain, difficulty urinating, or have a fever.
Nausea or vomiting during pregnancy is treated in four steps:
First step: lifestyle and diet changes
Change your diet. Simple changes, such as those listed below, may lessen nausea and help to avoid vomiting. Nausea during pregnancy is worse if you are dehydrated (not enough fluid in your body) or if the levels of sugar in your blood are low from not eating often enough. The following suggestions help control nausea.
- Drink plenty of fluids.
- Eat plain crackers or dry toast in the morning before getting out of bed or any time you feel nauseous.
- Eat small meals every 2 to 3 hours, instead of three large meals.
- Avoid foods that have strong odors.
- Suck on a slice of lemon or lime.
- Eat foods that are high in carbohydrates, such as potatoes, noodles or toast.
- Do not lie down right after a meal.
- Drink carbonated beverages between meals; wait 30 minutes after eating before drinking liquids.
- Dairy products may make nausea and vomiting worse, however, yogurt has been known to help.
- Avoid foods that are greasy, fried, spicy, or very hot.
- Prenatal vitamins may make nausea worse. If you stop taking a prenatal multivitamin, you should take two tablets of folic acid daily (0.8 mg, which is 800 micrograms per day) during the first trimester. Folic acid tablets will not worsen nausea.
Second step: non-medication treatment
You may take ginger or use acupressure bands. Both have been shown to decrease nausea.
Ginger has been used for treating nausea since ancient times. Ginger root tea, ginger gum, ginger snaps, ginger syrup added to water and Ginger Ale are all safe and can decrease the severity of your nausea. You can also buy ginger capsules at a drug store. The daily dose of ginger that has been tested is 1 gram (250 mg capsules powdered ginger taken four times per day). Ginger capsules come in several doses, therefore before taking the capsule form, ask your healthcare provider about correct dosage.
Sea-bands, often used for motion sickness, are wristbands with a pressure point stud sewn inside. These bands are safe and are found to be helpful for some.
Third step: over-the-counter medication
Start by taking vitamin B6; you can take 25mg three times a day for one week. If your nausea continues, try a Unisom (Doxylamine) 25mg tablet once a day with vitamin B6. It is best to take a full tablet at night.
Fourth step: medication
If nausea and vomiting make it difficult to complete normal activities, medications can be prescribed. This may include medications such as Phenergan or Diclegis.
Please check with your healthcare provider before taking any additional vitamins or medicines.