Up to 80% of pregnant women suffer from nausea and vomiting to some degree as pregnancy sickness. They are more frequent and severe during the first trimester. Although they are usually associated with the morning, they can occur at all times. Symptoms range from mild to severe.
Severity leads to hyperemesis gravidarum and persistent vomiting of pregnancy. When you have this disorder, you vomit so much that you lose weight and become dehydrated. Enough food is not consuming to provide energy to the body. Due to this, it breaks down fats, resulting in a build-up of waste products called ketosis. Ketosis can lead to fatigue, bad breath, dizziness, and also other symptoms. Usually, when you have hyperemesis gravidarum, the dehydration is so severe that the electrolyte balance, necessary for the body to function normally, is disturbed.
If you vomit occasionally but gain weight and don’t become dehydrated, you do not have hyperemesis gravidarum. In the second trimester, morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum usually disappear.
Causes
During pregnancy, nausea and vomiting that occur are usually due to pregnancy, called pregnancy sickness. But sometimes, nausea and vomiting result from a disorder that has nothing to do with pregnancy.
Frequent causes
The most common frequent causes of nausea and vomiting are
- Morning sickness (the most common)
- Hyperemesis gravidarum
- Gastroenteritis (infection of the digestive tract)
Less frequent causes
Sometimes prenatal vitamins with iron cause nausea. In rare cases, severe and persistent vomiting occurs secondary to an overgrowth of placental tissue. Possible causes unrelated to pregnancy include
- Disorders of the abdomen such as appendicitis, intestinal blockage, or inflammation of the gallbladder
- Brain disorders such as migraine headaches, an intracranial or brain hemorrhage, and increased pressure within the brain
However, these disorders frequently cause other more prominent symptoms, such as abdominal pain or headaches.
Assessment
First, you have to attempt to determine whether nausea and vomiting are secondary to a severe disorder. After only other causes rule out, morning sickness or hyperemesis gravidarum will diagnose.
Warning signs
An experiencing of vomiting by pregnant women, the following symptoms are a cause for concern:
- Abdominal pain
- Fever
- Bloody, black or green vomit
- Vomiting that persists or gets worse.
- Confusion, weakness or numbness on one side of the body, speech or vision disorders, or drowsiness, as these symptoms indicate bleeding in the brain.
When to go to the doctor
The women in warning signs should see a doctor immediately, especially if the same intense suffering vomiting or worsening.
If there are no warning signs, should inform the doctor. Depending on the nature and severity of symptoms, it will help decide if and when to attend the consultation. You have not lost weight, and you can drink something if your nausea and vomiting are mild to moderate in intensity. It is not an emergency to see a doctor unless your symptoms worsen.
Treatment
If vomiting is secondary to a particular disorder, then give appropriate treatment for it. But if vomitings are due to pregnancy, making some changes in diet or eating habits can alleviate them:
- Drink or eat small amounts more often, 5 or 6 small meals a day.
- Eat before you are hungry.
- Eat only bland foods, like bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast.
- Drink carbonated drinks (sodas)
If vomiting leads to dehydration, will give fluids through an IV. But if they insist, they will proceed to hospitalization. They will be given intravenously along with sugar (glucose), electrolytes, and sometimes vitamins. When the vomiting has subsided, the liquid will gives orally. If you tolerate liquids, you can start eating frequent, small servings of bland foods. Will increase the portion sizes as more food will tolerate.
If necessary, to relieve nausea, give medications (antiemetics). The doctor suggests the safest drugs for the first months of pregnancy. First of all, we have to prescribe vitamin B6. If it is necessary, another drug also gives if it is ineffective, such as doxylamine, metoclopramide, ondansetron, or promethazine.
Ginger which is available in capsule or lollipop form, acupuncture, motion sickness bands, and hypnosis, can help by substituting prenatal vitamins for children’s chewable folic acid.
In this case, the woman is fed a tube through the nose and throat into the small intestine. Tube feeding continues for as long as needed. On rare occasions, weight loss continues, and symptoms continue despite treatment.
