Morning sickness is common in early pregnancy and it can be very unpleasant for mums-to-be.
Chloe Madeley, daughter of TV presenter Richard Madeley, has spoken about the "horrible" 18-hour vomiting sessions she endured during the first few months of her pregnancy. The 34-year-old and her husband James Haskell are to be parents, with Chloe revealing she is expecting a baby girl.
However, the personal trainer has said she's struggled with extreme morning sickness during the start of her pregnancy, calling the vomiting "savage". Chloe told OK! magazine that while she felt incredibly lucky to be pregnant, it was "really hard" getting through the first 14 weeks, as she was being sick from early in the morning until late at night.
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"I got through it because I knew how lucky I was and I was so happy to be pregnant. From weeks nine to 14, I would wake up about 2am and start vomiting, and I didn’t stop until 8pm," she said.
But is there anything mums can do to ease morning sickness? The NHS says there's no hard and fast treatment that will work for everyone. Every pregnancy will be different.
However, there are some changes you can make to your diet and daily life to try to ease the symptoms. If these do not work or you're having more severe symptoms, speak to your doctor or midwife.
We have rounded up the following advice from the NHS website. You can get more information here.
Things you can try yourself to ease morning sickness
If your morning sickness is not too bad, your GP or midwife will initially recommend you try some lifestyle changes:
- get plenty of rest (tiredness can make nausea worse)
- avoid foods or smells that make you feel sick
- eat something like dry toast or a plain biscuit before you get out of bed
- eat small, frequent meals of plain foods that are high in carbohydrate and low in fat (such as bread, rice, crackers and pasta)
- eat cold foods rather than hot ones if the smell of hot meals makes you feel sick
- drink plenty of fluids, such as water (sipping them little and often may help prevent vomiting)
- eat foods or drinks containing ginger – there's some evidence ginger may help reduce nausea and vomiting (check with your pharmacist before taking ginger supplements during pregnancy)
- try acupressure – there's some evidence that putting pressure on your wrist, using a special band or bracelet on your forearm, may help relieve the symptoms
Anti-sickness medicine
If your nausea and vomiting is severe and does not improve after trying the above lifestyle changes, your GP may recommend a short-term course of an anti-sickness medicine, called an antiemetic, that's safe to use in pregnancy. Often this will be a type of antihistamine, which are usually used to treat allergies but also work as medicines to stop sickness.
Antiemetics will usually be given as tablets for you to swallow. But if you cannot keep these down, your doctor may suggest an injection or a type of medicine that's inserted into your bottom (suppository). See your GP if you'd like to talk about getting anti-sickness medication.
Severe vomiting in pregnancy
For most women, morning sickness improves or stops completely by around weeks 16 to 20, although for some women it can last longer. Some pregnant women experience very bad nausea and vomiting.
They might be sick many times a day and be unable to keep food or drink down, which can impact on their daily life. This excessive nausea and vomiting is known as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), and often needs hospital treatment.
If you are being sick frequently and cannot keep food down, tell your midwife or doctor, or contact the hospital. There is a risk you may become dehydrated, and your midwife or doctor can make sure you get the right treatment.
Signs and symptoms of hyperemesis gravidarum
- prolonged and severe nausea and vomiting
- being dehydrated. Symptoms of dehydration include, feeling thirsty, tired, dizzy or lightheaded, not peeing very much, and having dark yellow and strong-smelling pee
- weight loss
- low blood pressure (hypotension) when standing
