Severe morning sickness explained

Posted on 4 February 2015

Known as hyperemesis gravidarum, severe morning sickness has gained unprecedented publicity through the pregnancies of the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. But it’s not only royalty who suffer from this rare but debilitating condition. We investigate.

Being bent over the toilet bowel bringing up any food you’ve managed to stomach is a common – albeit unpleasant – part of pregnancy. Yet when your morning sickness is severe and continuous you may be suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum.

‘Morning sickness develops from about five weeks into a pregnancy and should resolve by the time you’re about 16-18 weeks along, but for about percent of women, it can last up until delivery,’ explains Dr Leneque Xanthe Lindeque, a gynaecologist and obstetrician at Mediclinic Highveld in Mpumalanga.

When morning sickness leaves you feeling completely debilitated, there may be something more serious going on. ‘Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is the term used to describe more severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Women with HG often vomit every day and may lose more than five percent of their pre-pregnancy body weight. In most cases, women with HG will have blood and urine tests that show evidence of dehydration.’

Treatment
Rest assured that even though it’s hard to handle, with proper treatment hyperemesis gravidarum is highly unlikely to pose a risk to your unborn baby. While there’s no way to completely prevent the condition, there are ways to ease the symptoms.

‘Treatment of severe nausea and vomiting depends on the severity, but may include hospital admission for the administration of intravenous fluids if the patient is unable to keep down any food or fluids and shows signs of dehydration,’ says Dr Lindeque. ‘Medicines that are proven to help include vitamin B6 supplements and antihistamines. Sometimes anti-nausea medication that’s safe to use in pregnancy may need to be prescribed.’

Dr Lindeque also suggests keeping the following in mind when looking to reduce symptoms:
• Eat before you get hungry as an empty stomach worsens nausea
• Avoid triggers such as certain smells
• Avoid spicy or oily foods
• Eat regular small amounts of food high in carbohydrates and simple proteins

Risk factors
Fortunately the disease occurs in less than two percent of pregnancies, but once you’re struck it’s highly likely you’ll experience it again in subsequent pregnancies. ‘There seems to be a genetic predisposition as well as constant risk factors such as patients with regular migraines, those who suffer from motion sickness, and those who suffer from nausea associated with certain smells and/or with exposure to oestrogen such as the use of the contraceptive pill,’ explains Dr Lindeque. ‘It’s also recognised that the disease process is fuelled by psychological factors.’

Keen to find out more about your pregnancy? Why not attend an info session at your nearest Mediclinic hospital? You’ll find the all the information you need here.

The information provided in this article was correct at the time of publishing. At Mediclinic we endeavour to provide our patients and readers with accurate and reliable information, which is why we continually review and update our content. However, due to the dynamic nature of clinical information and medicine, some information may from time to time become outdated prior to revision.