Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy

Nausea and vomiting are frequent disturbances in the first trimester of pregnancy, sometimes they may take the form of hyperemesis, even life-threatening. The authors survey the concepts of the aetiology and pathogenesis of the condition: hormonal, metabolic, psychological. Principles of management using simple methods reducing the ++ill being of the pregnant patients are presented, together with pharmacological management of hyperemesis. The suggested therapeutic methods seem to be relatively safe for the fetus and practically eliminate the necessity of pregnancy interruption for medical indications.     

Nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy

To study the problem of nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy an epidemiological survey was undertaken, obtaining information from 500 consecutive antenatal patients. Seventy-six percent of women complained of symptoms during the first trimester, and in only 27% had the symptoms resolved by the twelfth week. Job efficiency was markedly impaired. Women who suffered nausea premenstrually, or on the oral contraceptive pill, were much more likely to develop symptoms, lending credence to a hormonal etiology for the condition.     

Epidemiology of vomiting in early pregnancy

Factors associated with early pregnancy vomiting were investigated in 9098 first-trimester registrants in the Collaborative Perinatal Project. Vomiting in the absence of hyperemesis or gastroenteritis was noted in 56% of all women, and was more common among primigravidas (P = .002), younger women (P less than .001), women with less than 12 years of education (P less than .001), nonsmokers (P less than .001), and women weighing 77.1 kg (170 lb) or more (P = .003). Adjustment for confounders did not change these associations. Women reporting vomiting were less likely to experience miscarriage or stillbirth (P = .002) and delivery before 37 weeks' gestation (P = .004), but there was no difference in infant birth weight between mothers with and without vomiting (P = .48). Women who vomit in one pregnancy are more likely to vomit in subsequent pregnancies than are comparable women who did not vomit.     

Women's responses to nausea and vomiting in pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To explore women's experiences of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. DESIGN: secondary (thematic) analysis of data collected by narrative interviews for two wider studies about antenatal screening and about pregnancy for the DIPEx website (www.dipex.org). PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: A maximum variation sample was recruited throughout the UK. Data from the 73 women interviewed have been analysed. Interviews took place between October 2003 and December 2004, mostly in the home. FINDINGS: sickness is considered a typical and almost inevitable feature of pregnancy. Against this backdrop, a new framework for understanding women's responses to nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, and the meanings they attach to it, is suggested: nausea and vomiting as something to be expected, survived, resisted, resented, and acknowledged by others. KEY CONCLUSIONS: The concepts of loss of self and biographical disruption from the field of chronic illness seem to resonate with the women's experiences, and may perhaps be extended to transient as well as chronic health conditions. People's experiences of their bodies in health as well as illness need to be more widely studied. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Many women would appreciate greater acknowledgement of the distress nausea and vomiting in pregnancy causes them, information about remedies and strategies other women have found helpful, and reassurance. Expressions of empathy by health-care professionals are frequently lacking and particularly desired.     

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: a review

Throughout pregnancy, women with nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy showed a different metabolic pattern compared to asymptomatic pregnancies. Women suffering from nausea and vomiting seem to have a low "functional reserve" of their liver capacity and could tentatively be described as hypersensitive to estrogens or their metabolites, e.g., catecholestrogens. These steroids have "emetic" properties, which might be explained by their direct stimulation of area postrema. It is known that estrogens increase the brain's excitability. Another possible mechanism could be by interacting with liver metabolism, resulting in the production of irregular metabolites, which in turn possess "emetic" qualities.     

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and association with pregnancy outcome

The pattern of nausea and/or vomiting of pregnancy were investigated in a group of 414 predominantly white, upper middle-class women in Albany, New York; patterns were ascertained before their eighty-eighth day of gestation and followed up to the end of pregnancy. Of these, 89.4% reported at least some symptoms. This frequency is higher than reported previously, perhaps in part because extensive attempts were made in this study to ascertain symptoms. The incidence of vomiting was about 55%. Women with no symptoms of nausea and/or vomiting of pregnancy experienced a significantly greater proportion of nonviable pregnancy outcomes (fetal death). Increased intake of niacin during the first trimester was associated with decreased infant birth weight. This may be the result of quicker fetal maturation due to increased levels of protein intake.