How to help severe morning sickness

Vomiting and morning sickness - NHS

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, often known as morning sickness, is very common in early pregnancy.

It can affect you at any time of the day or night or you may feel sick all day long.

Morning sickness is unpleasant, and can significantly affect your day-to-day life. But it usually clears up by weeks 16 to 20 of your pregnancy and does not put your baby at any increased risk.

There is a chance of developing a severe form of pregnancy sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum. This can be serious, and there's a chance you may not get enough fluids in your body (dehydration) or not get enough nutrients from your diet (malnourishment). You may need specialist treatment, sometimes in hospital.

Sometimes urinary tract infections (UTIs) can also cause nausea and vomiting. A UTI usually affects the bladder, but can spread to the kidneys.

Non-urgent advice: Call your midwife, GP or 111 if:

you're vomiting and:

have very dark-coloured urine or have not had a pee in more than 8 hours
are unable to keep food or fluids down for 24 hours
feel severely weak, dizzy or faint when standing up
have tummy (abdominal) pain
have a high temperature
vomit blood
have lost weight

Treatments for morning sickness

Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast treatment that will work for everyone’s morning sickness. Every pregnancy will be different.

But there are some changes you can make to your diet and daily life to try to ease the symptoms.

If these do not work for you or you're having more severe symptoms, your doctor or midwife might recommend medicine.

Things you can try yourself

If your morning sickness is not too bad, your GP or midwife will initially recommend you try some lifestyle changes:

get plenty of rest (tiredness can make nausea worse)
avoid foods or smells that make you feel sick
eat something like dry toast or a plain biscuit before you get out of bed
eat small, frequent meals of plain foods that are high in carbohydrate and low in fat (such as bread, rice, crackers and pasta)
eat cold foods rather than hot ones if the smell of hot meals makes you feel sick
drink plenty of fluids, such as water (sipping them little and often may help prevent vomiting)
eat foods or drinks containing ginger – there's some evidence ginger may help reduce nausea and vomiting (check with your pharmacist before taking ginger supplements during pregnancy)
try acupressure – there's some evidence that putting pressure on your wrist, using a special band or bracelet on your forearm, may help relieve the symptoms

Find out more about vitamins and supplements in pregnancy

Anti-sickness medicine

If your nausea and vomiting is severe and does not improve after trying the above lifestyle changes, your GP may recommend a short-term course of an anti-sickness medicine, called an antiemetic, that's safe to use in pregnancy.

Often this will be a type of antihistamine, which are usually used to treat allergies but also work as medicines to stop sickness (antiemetic).

Antiemetics will usually be given as tablets for you to swallow.

But if you cannot keep these down, your doctor may suggest an injection or a type of medicine that's inserted into your bottom (suppository).

See your GP if you'd like to talk about getting anti-sickness medication.

Risk factors for morning sickness

It's thought hormonal changes in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy are probably one of the causes of morning sickness.

But you may be more at risk of it if:

you're having twins or more
you had severe sickness and vomiting in a previous pregnancy
you tend to get motion sickness (for example, car sick)
you have a history of migraine headaches
morning sickness runs in the family
you used to feel sick when taking contraceptives containing oestrogen
it's your first pregnancy
you're obese (your BMI is 30 or more)
you're experiencing stress

Visit the pregnancy sickness support site for tips for you and your partner on dealing with morning sickness.

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Video: how can I cope with morning sickness?

In this video, a midwife gives advice on how to deal with morning sickness during your pregnancy.

Media last reviewed: 27 February 2017
Media review due: 27 March 2020

Community content from HealthUnlocked

Page last reviewed: 13 April 2021
Next review due: 13 April 2024

Severe Morning Sickness (Hyperemesis Gravidarum) (for Parents)

What's Morning Sickness?

During the first trimester of pregnancy, many women have the bouts of nausea and vomiting known as morning sickness.

Despite its name, morning sickness can happen day or night. It usually starts around the 6th week of pregnancy, is at its worst around week 9, and stops by weeks 16 to 18. Although unpleasant, morning sickness is considered a normal part of a healthy pregnancy.

What’s Severe Morning Sickness?

Severe morning sickness is when nausea and vomiting get so serious that a pregnant woman vomits several times a day, loses weight, and gets dehydrated or is at risk for dehydration.

If this rare pregnancy-related condition isn’t treated, it can affect a woman's health and her baby's ability to thrive.

The medical term for severe morning sickness is "hyperemesis gravidarum" (hi-per-EM-eh-sis grav-ih-DARE-um), which means "excessive vomiting during pregnancy." It usually follows a similar timeline to normal morning sickness. But it can go longer, sometimes lasting for the whole pregnancy. Often, the symptoms get less severe as the pregnancy continues.

Most cases of hyperemesis gravidarum affect a woman's first pregnancy. But women who have it in one pregnancy are more likely to have it in future pregnancies.

What Causes Severe Morning Sickness?

The cause of severe morning sickness isn’t known. But it might be related to the hormone changes of pregnancy. A hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG, might be to blame because severe morning sickness most often happens when HCG levels are at their highest in a pregnant woman's body.

Severe morning sickness also might run in families. It’s more common in women whose close family members (such as mothers and sisters) have had it.

Other things that can increase a woman's chances of having severe morning sickness include:

carrying multiples (twins, triplets, etc.)
history of motion sickness
migraine headaches with nausea or vomiting

What Problems Can Happen?

The nausea and vomiting that happen in severe morning sickness are so extreme that they can harm the mother and the baby. Not being able to keep down food makes it hard for the mom to meet her nutritional needs. So she might lose weight. And a loss of fluids, combined with the loss of stomach acid from vomiting, can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.

If severe morning sickness isn’t treated, it can cause many problems, including organ failure and the early birth of her baby.

When Should I Call the Doctor?

Call the doctor right away if you’re pregnant and have any of these symptoms:

nausea that lasts throughout the day, making it impossible to eat or drink
vomiting three to four times per day or not being to keep anything in the stomach
brownish vomit or vomit with blood or streaks of blood in it
weight loss
fainting or dizziness
peeing less than usual
a fast heart rate
a lot of headaches
unpleasant, fruity mouth or body odor
extreme tiredness
confusion

How Is Severe Morning Sickness Treated?

Treatments used for morning sickness, such as eating dry crackers in the morning or a bland diet, may be recommended for women with extreme morning sickness. But these might not help with severe symptoms.

Medical treatment can include:

a short period of not eating to rest the gastrointestinal system
intravenous (IV) fluids
vitamin and nutritional supplements

Some women might get medicine to stop the vomiting, either by mouth or through an IV. The doctor might recommend eating foods with ginger or taking vitamin B6 supplements to help ease nausea. It can also help to:

Eat a bland diet.
Eat frequent small meals.
Drink plenty of liquids when not feeling nauseated.
Avoid spicy and fatty foods.
Eat high-protein snacks.
Avoid sensory stimuli that can act as triggers (like specific smells or noises).

If a woman feels anxious or depressed about her condition, talking to a therapist or counselor might help her cope with her feelings.

What Else Should I Know?

With treatment, women with severe morning sickness can feel better and get the nourishment they need so they and their babies thrive. And lifestyle changes can help ease nausea and vomiting and make the pregnancy more enjoyable.

With time, symptoms usually do improve. And, of course, they stop by the time a woman's next journey starts: parenthood.

How to get rid of morning sickness during pregnancy?

Morning sickness often occurs during pregnancy. This is usually associated with an increase in estrogen levels, a decrease in blood glucose levels, and an increased sensitivity to odors. In most cases, morning sickness stops by the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. In order to minimize this unpleasant symptom, the following rules can be observed:

1. Get more rest. Make sure you get quality sleep throughout the night. You can also get some sleep during the day and avoid doing strenuous activities after eating. nine0003

2. Do not rush to get out of bed abruptly after waking up.

3. Avoid certain foods. Avoid fatty and/or spicy foods and avoid caffeine.

4. Eat small meals. It is important that there is always a small amount of food in the stomach, this will reduce the risk of developing nausea or reduce the severity of symptoms, if any. You can eat some salty crackers or protein foods before you get out of bed in the morning. For breakfast, you can eat cold applesauce, a pear, a banana, or any citrus fruits to reduce your hunger. Potassium-rich fruits can help prevent morning sickness during pregnancy. At night, you can eat something high in protein, this will help normalize blood glucose levels. nine0003

5. Turn off the computer. Fast, almost imperceptible flickering of a computer monitor can cause toxicosis.

6. Be physically active.

7. Drink plenty of fluids. The more dehydrated the body is, the more nausea will be felt. If drinking water is hard, try adding apple cider vinegar and honey. Moreover, the colder the drink, the easier it will be to consume. Sucking on ice cubes made from water or fruit juice is also a good method for reducing nausea. nine0003

8. Eat ginger. Adding a piece of raw ginger to water or tea, or drinking a cold ginger drink can help soothe the stomach and eliminate nausea.

9. Engage in mental activity. It is important to try to distract yourself from the feeling of nausea, for this you can read a book, solve puzzles, watch TV or take a short walk outside.

10. Wear loose and comfortable clothing. Clothing that restricts movement or tight clothing can aggravate the symptoms of morning sickness. nine0003

11. Consider replacing prenatal vitamins with baby vitamins, they tend to be easier to digest.

12. Avoid irritating odors. Since pregnant women are often noted for increased sensitivity to odors, strong odors, such as perfume, can trigger the development of nausea. In turn, the smell of lemon or rosemary extract will help calm the stomach.

13. Avoid triggers - factors that provoke the development of an attack of nausea.

nine0002 14. Eliminate reflux if present.

Antacids can help with this. Consult your doctor before taking them.

15. Talk to your doctor about taking iron supplements or iron-containing vitamins. There is evidence that the use of iron supplements can provoke the development of nausea in pregnant women.

16. Do acupressure. Pressing on certain points on the body to control nausea can help reduce or eliminate this symptom. nine0003

Based on www.medicalnewstoday.com

Acupressure for nausea and vomiting

Time to read: Approximately 2 min.

This information explains how to use acupressure (AK-yoo-PREH-sher) to help with nausea and prevent vomiting. Nausea is the sensation of vomit. Vomiting is the eruption of vomit.

Acupressure is a type of massage. It is based on the traditional Chinese medicine practice of acupuncture (AK-yoo-PUNK-cher). With acupressure, pressure is applied to certain points of the body. Such points are called acupuncture points (AK-yoo-points). nine0003

Pressing these points allows the muscles to relax and improves blood circulation. It also helps relieve many of the side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea and vomiting.

You can do acupressure at home by applying pressure to various acupuncture points with your fingers. To learn how to do acupressure, watch this video or follow the steps below.

This video will show you how to perform acupressure to help relieve nausea and vomiting. nine0003 Details on video

Massage point P-6 is also known as nay-gwann. It is located on the back of the hand next to the wrist. Massaging this point helps relieve nausea and prevent vomiting.

Massage of this point is not recommended in the following cases:

Skin at or near the point is flaky or blistered.
Open wound at or near a point.
Rash at or near this point.

How to find a massage point P-6

To find the P-6 massage point:

Position the hand so that the fingers are pointing up and the palm is facing you.
Place the first 3 fingers of your other hand on your wrist (see figure 1). Your fingers should be just below the crook of your wrist.
Place your thumb just below your index finger. Remove 3 fingers from your wrist, but leave your thumb in place (see Figure 2). Press on this place with your thumb. Under the thumb, you should feel 2 large tendons (tissue that connects muscles to bones). This spot between the two tendons is the P-6 massage point. nine0040
Once you have found the massage point, you can relax your hand and keep it in a comfortable position.

Figure 1. How to place 3 fingers on the wrist to locate the thumb

Figure 2. How to press the thumb to the point under the index finger

Press this point with your thumb. While pressing, make circular movements with your thumb. You can move it clockwise (right) or counterclockwise (left). Do this for 2-3 minutes. nine0040
Some people may find it difficult to use their thumb. Instead, you can use your index finger.
Press hard enough, but not so hard that it hurts. You may feel some discomfort or tenderness, but it should not be pain. If you feel pain, then you are pressing too hard.
Repeat steps 1 to 4 on the other wrist.

You can massage this point several times a day until symptoms improve. nine0003

Acupressure is an additional treatment. Complementary therapies are treatments that can be used alongside primary cancer therapy. They can help relieve symptoms.

For more information about complementary treatments, call MSK's Integrative Medicine Service at 646-449-1010 or visit www.mskcc.org/integrativemedicine.

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