Morning sickness isn’t exactly the best way to describe the nausea felt by pregnant women as it can last all day, although the symptoms are generally worse in the morning and can disappear during the course of the day. The intensity of the symptoms and how long they last varies from woman to woman and can affect up to 75% of all pregnant women.
The nausea felt by morning sickness can begin as early as your fourth week of pregnancy although most people don’t feel it until at least week 6. Morning sickness is generally worst in the first trimester with most women finding relief from it by week 14. About half of women who have morning sickness will have to stick it out until their twentieth week of pregnancy.
No one actually knows why women get morning sickness, although it can surely be attributed to the many physical changes taking place in a woman’s body along with the surge of pregnancy hormones. Estrogen is the main culprit for morning sickness, although this pregnancy hormone cannot be avoided. An enhanced sense of smell can get some nauseous mothers in trouble, smelling things for the first time or getting a whiff of something unpleasant can easily trigger morning sickness.
Some doctors believe that morning sickness is caused by a predisposition caused by an abnormal response to the stress that the body is feeling during pregnancy. Although this has never been officially confirmed, stress is known to cause digestive problems and could easily aggravate morning sickness.
Fortunately, morning sickness won’t hurt your baby. As long as you stay hydrated and eat when you’re able to, morning sickness will have no effect on your health or the health of your new baby. You may even notice you aren’t gaining much weight in the first trimester due to morning sickness. This can be normal for people suffering from morning sickness and is nothing to be alarmed about.