Will morning sickness affect my baby?
Experiencing some mild nausea and vomiting during the first trimester of pregnancy is normal and won’t affect your baby’s health.
Morning sickness can affect your appetite though, and it is important to not starve yourself and your baby.
You can also take prenatal vitamins to supply the right nutrients needed by you and your baby.
However, studies have shown a correlation between severe morning sickness and increased risk of low birth weight and premature birth.
Talk to your doctor so that he can advise you on what to do.
If you experience little to no nausea during your pregnancy, don’t worry, because there is no truth to the statement that morning sickness is the sign to a healthy pregnancy.
What can I do to get relief from morning sickness?
Here are a couple of suggestions that could help you in dealing with mild nausea or vomiting during pregnancy:
- Make sure that your stomach is never empty by eating small meals and snacks frequently. Some recommended snacks are those that are high in protein and complex carbohydrates.
- Make sure to eat slowly.
Is there any medicine that provide relief for morning sickness?
Remember that in treating morning sickness, non-drug options are recommended over medicine to avoid exposing your baby to medication unnecessarily.
If none of the non-drug suggestions worked (see What can I do to get relief from morning sickness?), you can talk to your doctor about it.
He will prescribe you some medicine that can help relieve nausea and vomiting during your early pregnancy. Some over the counter (OTC) medicines that could help include:
- Vitamin B6 – The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) consider vitamin B6 to be the first-line treatment to combat nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. This is especially effective for pregnant women who experience mild to moderate morning sickness.
- Doxylamine and other antihistamines are also effective in treating morning sickness. Remember that some of these can make you sleepy though, so take that into account if you’re not planning to rest soon.
For cases of severe nausea and vomiting and you can’t keep any food or fluid down, you might have hyperemesis gravidarum, which is an intense form of morning sickness. Your doctor may recommend that you be treated in the hospital with intravenous (IV) fluids and medications.
Some IV drugs to treat hyperemesis gravidarum include:
- Chlorpromazine
- Antihistamines
- dopamine antagonists
- serotonin antagonists
- glucocorticoids.
In which situations about morning sickness should I be concerned and talk to my doctor?
Whenever you are confused about something that happens during your early pregnancy, it is always a good idea to talk to your doctor and be informed about it.
It never hurts to have more knowledge about morning sickness and how to deal with it.
Nevertheless, some situations where it is very important and urgent to call your doctor include:
- Losing 2 pounds or more of weight
- Developing symptoms of morning sickness on your second or third trimester of pregnancy
- Feeling dizzy when you stand up
- Vomiting or coughing blood
- Dehydration, which can be observed when you have dark urine or if you urinate infrequently
- Having fever, headaches, abdominal pain or some swelling in the front of your neck