Nausea and Early Pregnancy – What Are the Causes?
Nausea and early pregnancy can be an uncomfortable time. Pregnancy is a major transition from womanhood to motherhood. Many see it as a period of fulfillment to becoming a mother.
But when morning sickness takes over, some rethink the idea. Although the exact cause of morning sickness is unknown, so many changes happen in a pregnant woman’s body, it is easy to understand the body’s reaction.
When a woman gets pregnant, her body undergoes so many changes from the inside out. These changes involve various hormones that either increase or decrease in order to prepare the woman’s body accommodate the formation of her fetus.
The release of these hormones can cause changes resulting to several unpleasant side effects. This varies from gastro intestinal changes to a heightened sense of smell and so on.
One of the hormones believed responsible to cause morning sickness is HCG. This stands for human chronic gonadotropin. This hormone is produced by the embryo and soon is produced by the placenta on later part of conception.
The role of HCG is to maintain the progesterone level. The hormone progesterone is another hormone essential for pregnancy and is believed to cause morning sickness as well.
Progesterone causes relaxation of smooth muscles primarily the uterus. This helps prevent early labor. But this action of progesterone also affects several other smooth muscles such as stomach and intestines. As these muscle relax, gastric acid production increases resulting in stomach irritation and nausea.
Another hormone possibly responsible for nausea and vomiting is estrogen. This hormone is always present in a woman’s body. But during her child bearing years, but it rises considerably during the early months of pregnancy.
Vitamin B deficiency among pregnant women is also believed to cause nausea during pregnancy. But taking vitamin B6 supplement often shows no effect in easing morning sickness.
One study conducted shows that there is no significant difference in the levels of B6 in women with morning sickness and those without. So it is unclear why B6 is helpful. Taking multivitamins during pregnancy is also believed to help prevent severe nausea during pregnancy.
On the contrary nausea and early pregnancy may not be caused by the body’s hormone levels at all. Pregnant women experience an enhanced sense of smell and sensitivity to odors causing nausea and vomiting. Even favorite smells can sometimes set off a feeling of nausea.
Gastro intestinal changes also cause problems in pregnant women as they seem to be more sensitive to stress during this time. Avoiding strong, spicy and rich foods can sometimes give pregnant women relief.
There is no exact explanation on what could cause morning sickness among pregnant women yet. Thankfully, this experience usually ends after the third month of pregnancy for most women.
If you are experiencing severe morning sickness, make sure to talk to your doctor right away!
