When Does Morning Sickness End?

About 50 - 90 percent of women suffer from morning sickness; it refers to frequent nausea which occurs during pregnancy. Although it is known as 'morning sickness', the symptom need not occur only in the morning, but any time during the day, or night as well. Generally, women do not require medical help to manage this problem, as it can be addressed by some simple home remedies. However, for severe cases, hospitalization and treatment with intravenous (IV) fluids and medications may become a necessity. Now let's know about when does morning sickness stop occurring, apart from knowing other facts such as when does it start, and what can be done at home to manage it and reduce its severity.

How Long Does Morning Sickness Last?

Morning sickness, with most women, is common in their first trimester. In some cases, it may start as early as two weeks after conception. By week 13 or 14, the nausea begins to subside, and by week 20 most women are relieved of morning sickness. According to many, it is worse in weeks 6 - 10. However, it is also likely for some women to experience this symptom lingering throughout their pregnancy.

Some Important Facts on Morning Sickness

# As mentioned, morning sickness may or may not be accompanied by vomiting. Generally, it does not raise any sort of health concern. However, if it is accompanied by dark color urine, racing heart, blood in vomit, or dizziness, then a doctor's appointment is recommended. Also if you feel that your nausea or vomiting is getting severe than before, even then you must get in touch with your pregnancy care provider.

# It is believed that morning sickness indicate a healthy pregnancy. However, this has not been scientifically proven. Although, there have been many cases where lack of nausea during pregnancy showed higher incidence of miscarriage, there are many researches showing that the correlation is not true.

# Although it is not yet clear about what causes morning sickness, experts believe that hormonal changes may have an important part to play here.

# As mentioned, there is no treatment required for morning sickness. If in case, it gets worse, vitamin B-6 supplements and anti-nausea medications may be prescribed. And for serious cases, the patient may be treated with intravenous (IV) fluids and anti-nausea medications in the hospital. At home, women can take certain self care measures which may help relieve nausea or vomiting.

• Take foods high in carbohydrates and low in fat, and snack on smaller meals throughout the day, instead of going for three large meals.
• Do not ignore the benefit of drinking water and liquid foods. Go for water, broth, juice, or sports hydration drink.
• Avoid stressful situations, and learn to relax. Stress, although does not cause nausea, it makes it worse.
• Avoid foods which may seem to trigger nausea or make it worse; common examples include citrus juice, coffee, etc.
• Take care with prenatal vitamins. Some vitamins may make you feel nauseous, and discussing this with your care provider may help you choose some better alternatives. Iron supplements tend to worsen morning sickness. So take it if at all required and recommended by your doctor.
• Ginger tea is also known to provide some relief when taken after a few days of treatment.

In most cases, following the above tips is good enough to manage the problem of morning sickness and its discomfort. In conjunction to these, women can also try acupressure, acupuncture, and even hypnosis to get a natural treatment for the symptom.