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Morning sickness, for more than 75% of pregnant women, is simply something to be dealt with. It can be frustrating at times, and it can interfere with your daily life. For a small number of women, however, morning sickness can become way more than just an annoyance. When it gets out of control, morning sickness can pose a threat to both you and your baby.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum is a rare condition in which a woman has severe morning sickness. If it’s not treated properly, it can cause all sorts of trouble for a pregnant woman.

Can’t tolerate food

Hyperemesis Gravidarum is defined primarily in terms of whether or not you’re able to keep down food and get the nutrition that you need during pregnancy. If you can’t get nutrients, your baby is going to have trouble growing. Hyperemesis Gravidarum is characterized by vomiting – in some cases, a woman with this severe form of morning sickness might vomit as much as 20 times a day or even more.

Required treatment

If you’re not keeping food and drink down, you’re in danger. You’re looking at dehydration and even malnutrition. When you’re pregnant, this is a real problem. Your baby needs those fluids and nutrients in order to grow and develop.

Often, a woman with Hyperemesis Gravidarum will actually require hospitalization. You may need to have IV fluids and nutrients in order to be able to stay healthy, and to protect your baby.

When does it end?

Most of the time, when a woman suffers from Hyperemesis Gravidarum it will disappear at the end of the first trimester. For others, it may last as long as the 22^nd week of pregnancy. For about 20% of women with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, however, it will last throughout the entire duration of their pregnancy.

Raising awareness

Expectant moms need to know about the dangers posed by Hyperemesis Gravidarum, and about what to do if they’re experience symptoms of the condition. Tomorrow, May 15, has been established as  the first annual Hyperemesis Gravidarum World Awareness Day. If you’re pregnant or know someone who is, spend a few minutes learning about and discussing this condition.

photo credit: anikki*

Morning sickness is more than a drag for some pregnant women. It can be downright frustrating, and even debilitating. You can’t take most of the over the counter medicines, either, because they just haven’t sufficiently been tested for use during pregnancy. That means turning to alternative forms of treatment.

One treatment many women have had great success with is aromatherapy. Aromatherapy relies on the power of scents to help improve your health and well-being. By using essential oils, aromatherapy works on your olfactory senses to help with what ails you. Because so often morning sickness can be triggered by smells, it only stands to reason that some women have luck using aromatherapy to combat morning sickness.

If you want to try this out, here are some tips to get you started:

• Remember the power of ginger. Ginger tends to have amazing anti-nausea properties, and this applies to aromatherapy as well. The fact of the matter is that a couple of drops of ginger sprayed from an aromatherapy inhaler may work wonders for your morning sickness. If you don’t have an inhaler, placing a couple of drops on a tissue and breathing through the tissue may do the trick.
• Don’t forget mint. Many women get relief from their morning sickness using peppermint or spearmint. These mints can also be used in aromatherapy. Mint tends to have a settling property, and help to calm your stomach. In fact, after-dinner mints were more or less invented for this reason. Try some aromatherapy using mint, and you may find your morning sickness dissipating.
• There are other essential oils you can try, too. Some of the aromatherapy mixtures that expectant moms have used to help combat morning sickness can include Anise, Basil, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Chamomile, Clove, Lavender, Rose, Sandalwood, and Spikenard.

Here’s a quick recipe to get you started. Mix 1 drop of basil, 1 drop of lavender, and one drop of peppermint with two teaspoons of carrier oil. Rub your hands together to warm them up, and then apply the warm oil to your belly. Once you’re done, you can also cup your hands over your nose and mouth for a few minutes, too.

Have you tried aromatherapy for your morning sickness? How did it work out for you?

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Some women really struggle with the symptoms of pregnancy, such as morning sickness. Other women have an easier time of it. However, what you might not realize is that some dads actually wind up with a variety of symptoms that seem to be, in some way or another, triggered by their partner’s pregnancy. Case in point: the recent news that Nick Lachey has “pregnant dad syndrome.”

The singer, whose wife Vanessa is expecting, has experienced a number of “sympathy” symptoms during this time, including:

• Cravings. In particular, he’s been craving chili rather than the stereotype of ice cream or pickles.
• Bloating. This is not terribly common in a man in general, of course.
• Feet pain. Lachey has actually asked his wife – his pregnant wife – to rub his feet.

Does it really happen?

Believe it or not, there are actually men that wind up experiencing some of the symptoms of pregnancy along with their partners. Obviously, it’s psycho-somatic; the man isn’t experiencing fluctuating levels of HCG that will cause him to have morning sickness, for example.

Yet, there have been studies that suggest around 5% of men will experience some pregnancy-like symptoms when their partner is pregnant, whether it’s something that their partner is experiencing or not.

In the case of the Lacheys, Nick has borne the brunt of pregnancy symptoms. His wife Vanessa has reported not having any morning sickness, cravings, or any of the other typical sorts of symptoms that women experience during pregnancy. At least, not to the degree that Nick is experiencing them.

How about your partner?

Why exactly a man would experience these symptoms isn’t clear, of course. It’s really hard to make any definite conclusions, if for no other reason than the fact that couples are very different from one another.

It’s not necessarily empathy that causes pregnant dad syndrome either. There’s no need to chide your partner about his insensitivity just because his areola haven’t darkened.

So, what do you think? Is this a genuine condition? Is it something that would make you feel better, knowing your spouse was going through some of the same stuff you were?

As the most common pregnancy symptom, morning sickness is a bit of a mystery. Researchers aren’t positive what causes it, and effective treatments can vary greatly from one woman to the next – and even one pregnancy to the next. In many ways, morning sickness is something that we just don’t understand as much about as we would like to.

Here are some of the important statistics related to morning sickness you ought to be aware of:

• Some experts estimate that as many as 85% of pregnant women experience morning sickness of at least a mild level. Others suggest that the number is just over 50%. Studies have shown numbers everywhere in between.
• Morning sickness usually starts between week 4 and week 6 of pregnancy. Some women report having morning sickness as early as the first week after conception, and other women don’t feel any morning sickness until 10 weeks of pregnancy or more. However, 4 to 6 weeks seems to be the most common time for the onset of morning sickness.
• For about 75% of women, morning sickness stops around the end of the first trimester. For the others, most find that their morning sickness dissipates by about the 20^th week of pregnancy. Less than 5% of women who experience morning sickness do so through the entire length of their pregnancy.
• Approximately 1 in 300 pregnancies will result in severe morning sickness, known as hyperemesis gravidarum. In these extreme cases, a woman will lose weight – often more than 5% of her body weight. She’ll usually become dehydrated, as well, because she’s not able to keep enough food or drink down.
• Hyperemesis gravidarum can be very dangerous. If you can’t keep anything down, you need to be seen by a doctor. You may need IV fluids and nutrition so that your baby has the nutrients it needs to develop properly.

Morning sickness is, as you can see, a natural and normal part of pregnancy for most women. Explore natural cures for morning sickness, such as ginger, herbal teas, acupressure and more for the best and safest relief from your morning sickness symptoms.

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We’ve talked before about the morning sickness drug Thalidomide which was given to pregnant women in the middle of the 20^th century. We know that it caused a number of birth defects, and had to be taken off the market. It’s one of the truly tragic failures experienced in terms of pregnancy and childbirth medicine in the past century.

One of the more interesting stories to come out of the thalidomide mess is the story of the world’s only thalidomide triplets. Three girls – Jacqueline, Ann, and Kate Gallagher – celebrated their 50^th birthday last month. These women are the only known example of triplets born to a woman taking the morning sickness drug.

Problems caused by thalidomide

The triplets are from Glasgow’s east end, and have had a number of health problems in their lives.

Ann, for example, has short limbs. This was often the case of babies born to a woman who took Thalidomide, coming from being crushed during the birthing process.

Jacqueline required a wheelchair by the time she was 22 – in 1984. Kate has experienced dislocated joints many times over the years.

Never compensated

Most of the victims of thalidomide received compensation. The family did not, as doctors wouldn’t admit that the triplets had been affected by the drug. Parents Doris and Pat had nine other children when the triplets were born, making it much of a struggle growing up.

The girls struggled through school and worked for a short time in various industries, but were eventually unable to work because of their worsening conditions.

A positive spin

The sisters, loathe to wallow in self-pity, have maintained a positive attitude about their lives. They recognize that their symptoms are milder than many babies affected by thalidomide.

In the 1980s, the girls began to understand that they’d been affected by the morning sickness drug. After years of struggling, they finally received their due compensation in 1995.

It’s estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 babies were born in the UK and affected by Thalidomide use in the late 1950s into the early 1960s, when the drug was finally banned.

Of all of the various implications and variations of morning sickness, the most severe – and the one that poses the most danger to the expectant mother – is Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Hyperemesis Gravidarum can keep you from keeping any food or liquids down. This, of course, will cause a number of problems for both you and your baby. Somewhere around 2% of all pregnant women will experience Hyperemesis Gravidarum, and for those that do treatment is a necessity.

The dangers of Hyperemesis Gravidarum

The first thing you need to know about Hyperemesis Gravidarum is just how serious and dangerous it can be. It can cause you to become dehydrated, an obvious danger for both you and for your developing baby.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum can also lead to nutritional deficiencies. If you can’t keep down any food, chances are you aren’t keeping down your prenatal vitamins either. This means that your baby is at risk for developing certain birth defects. The folic acid and iron in your food and your prenatal vitamins are extremely important to your developing baby, and not having them has been shown to lead to birth defects.

What to do

If you’ve been having nausea and vomiting in excess for more than a couple of days, and been unable to keep anything down, you need to talk to your doctor. Depending on the severity of your Hyperemesis Gravidarum, you may need to go to the hospital. While you are there, you will probably be given IV fluids in order to combat dehydration.

While anti-nausea medications can sometimes pose a risk to pregnant women, you’re at a greater risk if you’re not keeping anything down. Your doctor might recommend a variety of medications to try to combat your Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

You may also have luck with some alternative treatments for Hyperemesis Gravidarum, including acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic care, homeopathic remedies, aromatherapy, and more. Work with your health care provider to help identify the best ways to treat your Hyperemesis Gravidarum, and make sure that no matter what you’re able to give your developing baby the nutritional building blocks that she needs to grow and have a healthy pregnancy. 

photo credit: Tehsi

Morning sickness is one of the most dreaded, and is the most common, symptom you’re likely to have during your pregnancy. For most women, it stops by the end of the first trimester. However, while you’re dealing with it, the fact that it’s going to end one day is cold comfort.

Fortunately, there are some things you can relieve your morning sickness. Here are some of the most proven:

1. Focus on complex carbohydrates. Eat plenty of pasta, bread, potatoes, and crackers. These items all are relatively easy for your body to process. They don’t hang around in the stomach long. Fatty foods take much longer to digest, and can promote nausea.
2. Keep away from strong smells. If possible, stay out of the kitchen. Strong food odors, even good ones, can cause you to experience nausea. Especially strong-smelling foods like fish, garlic, and onions should be avoided, as should cleaning products.
3. Use peppermint. Whether it takes the form of a peppermint candy or a peppermint tea, many women experience relief of morning sickness with this valuable herb. Just make sure that the tea or candy you’re consuming has real peppermint oil, and not just artificial peppermint flavoring.
4. Peanut butter. Believe it or not, many women have had luck with peanut butter. If possible, stick with low-fat version of this snack, however.  (Peanut butter tends to be relatively high in fat, and that can of course actually trigger your morning sickness.
5. Ginger. As with peppermint, many women get relief from their morning sickness using ginger. You might drink ginger tea, or have a ginger soda. There are even ginger supplements you can take. Here again, make sure it’s not artificially flavored. You want the real thing if it’s going to help you with your morning sickness.

So, what about you? Have you tried any of the remedies on this list? Are there things not on this list that you’ve been able to use in the past to get relief from morning sickness?

• Nausea or vomiting continues well into the second trimester. IF you are still experiencing morning sickness after the thirteenth week, make sure your doctor is aware. While this is not necessarily a problem, as many women experience morning sickness throughout pregnancy, it is something she will need to be aware of as she considers other factors regarding the overall healthiness of your pregnancy.

• If you are experiencing severe nausea or vomiting to the point that you are unable to keep food down, contact your physician. Any time morning sickness prevents you from digesting more than one meal, you should make your doctor aware. Missing meals deprives you and your baby of much needed nourishment during this vital part of your pregnancy, and your doctor will want to take steps to ensure that you are not becoming malnourished.

• If you are running a fever, or experience pain during vomiting, contact your health care provider, as this could be a sign of a more serious condition.

• If you vomit blood, call your physician right away.

• If you are feeling dizzy or faint when you stand up, consult your doctor.

• If you are not urinating as much or more than you normally do, or if your urine is darker than normal, inform your health care professional. These may be signs of dehydration or infection.

• If your heart races or you find yourself having heart palpitations, consult your doctor.

• If you are having trouble keeping down liquids, call your doctor right away. Your body can quickly dehydrate if you are not taking in enough fluids, and your doctor may need to either prescribe anti-nausea medication or use an IV to ensure that you are taking in enough fluid for yourself and the baby.

photo credit: TinyTall

Morning sickness can happen at any time of the day, but for many women it seems to be the worst in the morning. That means they often don’t feel well enough to eat breakfast, which in itself can make your nausea even worse.

You’ve probably found some foods you can tolerate – a cracker, or perhaps a piece or two of dry toast. However, just because you’re experiencing morning sickness doesn’t mean breakfast has to be bland.

Here are a few breakfast ideas you might try that should go easy on your stomach and still give you some of the important nutrients you need:

• Rice cakes and fruit. Consider spreading some Nutella, Almond butter, or similar spread (avoid Peanut Butter because of the high fat content, which may make you nauseous) on a couple of rice cakes. Boil an egg solidly – the white and yolk both should be very solid. This is a nice combination of carbs and protein that will get you started for the day.
• Oatmeal. Consider turning your oatmeal into porridge. Add some chopped nuts, some seeds, and fruit. There are even fast food restaurants that sell oatmeal at breakfast, and some women with morning sickness find that these dishes seem to be fairly mild on the stomach. It’s full of protein, and high in fiber, too.
• Sweet bread. Don’t try anything too dense; brioche is a good choice. Spread a little bit of Greek low-fat yogurt on it. Add sliced figs, too. This breakfast gets you lots of calcium as well as potassium, both of which are important during pregnanc
• Dried fruit. Dried fruit tends to be a little bit better than fresh during pregnancy, for a variety of reasons. Apricots, prunes, and figs are all good choices, and can be added to give some flavor to a basic cereal.

So, what about you? What kinds of breakfast food have you been able to eat during pregnancy? Are there things that seem to really set off your morning sickness that you tend to avoid instead?

photo credit: Arcturus Aldebaran

For many women who suffer from morning sickness, the medications that are available either by prescription or over the counter are either ineffective or have side effects that are sometimes even worse than the morning sickness. This is certainly true of some medications in the past, the most famous of course being thalidomide.

Fortunately, there are quite a few homemade remedies for morning sickness that people have had success with:

• One of the best ways to avoid an morning sickness, or even to help remedy an morning sickness, is to keep hydrated. It is important to drink enough fluids throughout the day, not just to help with an upset stomach, but for general health concerns. Whenever possible, you should drink clear and cold liquids such as water or soda pops that are clear of colorings and caffeine.
• Mint and ginger are both known to have a soothing effect on morning sickness. Many people have had success with a variety of types of peppermint teas, for example. If tea isn’t your thing, you can mix some peppermint oil into a drink of juice or lemonade. You can get ginger in a variety of ways, such as ginger tea or ginger root supplements. Ginger is especially effective if your upset stomach is due to morning sickness or to travel sickness.
• The BRAT diet, which consists of Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast, can help when you have morning sickness. By eating these foods that are relatively bland, you can avoid irritating your stomach any further.
• Avoiding foods that are greasy or that are high in saturated fats may also help to remedy morning sickness. These foods are known to create indigestion and irritate your digestive tract. In addition, there are many other health benefits that can be gained form avoiding these types of foods.
• One interesting recipe for helping to remedy  severe morning sickness comes from Mexico. Use 1/8 teaspoon of cumin and either boil mint leaves or use mint tea and add the cumin. Another recipe you can try is to mix an ounce of olive oil, 5 mg. of baking soda, a lime, and a can of a clear soda pop. Another homemade remedy is to drink really strong chamomile tea. Some people have had success with eating pineapple or drinking pineapple juice, as well.

Ultimately, if your morning sickness is severe and prolonged, you should contact your health care provider to determine if there is a more serious problem.