Home » Pregnancy's Nausea Experience

It's safe to assume that nausea has been an accompaniment to early pregnancy for as long as humans have roamed the planet, certainly since before the time of recorded history. Before medical practitioners had the modern tools of prediction, nausea and vomiting were Mother Nature's public announcement that a new human being was in production. The nausea associated with morning sickness is generally mild, starting and ending in the first trimester. Its onset is expected by most women who treat it as an unavoidable annoyance, the effects of which can be relieved using common home treatments. Although rare, some women experience severe symptoms that continue into the second and third trimester. These symptoms may indicate a serious condition requiring medical attention.

Statistically speaking, the nausea experienced with morning sickness usually starts in the fourth to sixth week of pregnancy. In some cases, quite rare, the symptoms of morning sickness don't begin until the end of the first trimester. No matter when the symptoms begin, the morning sickness ends within about forty days after it starts.

No one knows for sure why pregnant women have morning sickness. Fatigue and stress are thought to be factors. The consensus of opinions of most medical professionals is changes in the balance of chemicals and hormones that occur in the woman's body during early pregnancy are the primary cause. Progesterone and estrogen levels increase markedly during this period. Other contributors could be an increase in stomach acid and an increased sensitivity to certain smells.

The increase in progesterone weakens all of the body's muscles, including those of the uterus. Weakening the muscles of the uterus is believed to reduce the chances that a premature birth will occur. While doing that job, the progesterone also affects the muscles in the stomach and intestines, which slows the digestive process allowing excess stomach acid to accumulate.

The buildup in the body of hCG is another possible cause of nausea. This buildup occurs after implantation and stops at about the twelfth week of pregnancy. It functions in the body to help maintain the production of progesterone. Although it's not totally understood why it causes nausea, it is clear that the nausea occurs during the time period when the level of this chemical is elevated.

Morning sickness is an annoying, mild, and uneventful experience for most pregnant women. A small minority of women do experience symptoms of severe nausea and vomiting over a longer time than normal, sometimes over the entire term of the pregnancy. If vomiting is severe enough, the failure to retain food and liquids can result in dehydration in the mother, which can affect the baby. When nausea is this problematic, it's important to seek medical help to ensure that you and the baby remain healthy.

Despite a few extreme cases, the majority of mothers to be usually experience nausea that is mild. They
accept morning sickness as one of the natural rites for entry into motherhood. For these women, after the pregnancy ends with a happy healthy child, the morning sickness experience becomes distant memory.

For more great information go to: Nausea During Pregnancy.