Pregnant Pause

During the first 12 weeks of pregnancy one of the most common symptoms is morning sickness. If you are unfortunate enough to get morning sickness, as eight out of 10 pregnant women do, it can make the early stages of your pregnancy unpleasant.

Despite the name morning sickness does not occur exclusively in the mornings and can come on at any time of the day. The symptoms usually start from about six weeks after your last period. For some it is just a feeling of nausea, whilst for others it is full blown vomiting.

Feeling nauseous or being sick does not harm the baby and the good news is that although it is not known exactly why but women who experience sickness seem to be less likely to suffer a miscarriage than those that do not.

There are various theories as to why women get morning sickness. One theory revolves around the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), which controls the production of other pregnancy hormones. Levels of HCG rise during early pregnancy, peaking at about 10 weeks, before gradually reducing again at around about 12 weeks. These hormone levels match the time when women are most likely to get morning sickness.

As well as this, it is likely to be triggered by other factors too, such as:
- The smell of certain things, such as perfume, smoke, petrol, food or coffee.
- Eating certain foods, such as spicy meals, fatty foods or meat.
- Changing position too quickly, such as suddenly standing up quickly.
- Being tired, anxious or worried.

In the majority of cases, morning sickness stops after about 12 weeks but one in 10 cases, women can continue to feel sick for longer into their pregnancy.

If you are regularly being very sick, you are losing weight and cannot keep any liquids down, or you are worried about your health or that of your baby, please always seek medical advice.