Pregnancy, by all measures, is a normal occurrence or shall we say, should be a normal event in the life of a pregnant woman and the family. However, by all accounts, most pregnancies will pass without trouble. That said, a significant number of pregnant women may experience illnesses that are either caused directed by the pregnancy or simply occurring in association with the pregnancy.
In the coming weeks, we will examine some of these disorders and how you and your family can deal with them. These articles will not address infertility as we had dealt with infertility disorders in the recent past. For today, let us consider Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy. This condition is one that is caused by an ongoing pregnancy though in some occasions nausea and vomiting may be due to other disorder such as malaria that occurs during pregnancy.
In traditional African culture and in particular in Nigeria at least, a young novice girl might appear to the outside world, as chaste. Often to the surprise of her guardians or parents, she may start to vomit without the girl knowing the apparent cause in spite of the fact that she had secretly been sexually active. On intense questioning, she will often deny being sexually active. But the ancient wisdom will often reveal her hidden activities. Our grandparents, especially older women, would discern a novice girl who is in denial of being pregnant. Experience mothers will often look at the palm of the vomiting girl or like a doctor would, experience mothers will take a look at the eyes especially the conjunctiva and come to the conclusion, following the examination, that that girl is “pregnant” because the girl looks pale in both her hand and eyes. Suddenly, the girl who had until now been in denial, becomes calm and resign to her fate. Thus, taking the vomiting and the pallor together, our mothers had relied on ancient wisdom to make a diagnosis of early pregnancy.
Notwithstanding, either planned or unplanned pregnancy, nausea and vomiting is a common development in early pregnancy.
From about 2 to 4 weeks of pregnancy, one of the earliest symptoms of pregnancy is that the woman suddenly feels the urge to vomit (nausea) and as the days go by, this urge to “throw up” may be accompanied with actual vomiting. This very unpleasant feelings of nausea and vomiting often occurs in the morning hence the name “morning sickness” that is known to billions of our able and honourable women worldwide. The morning sickness though gets better as the day goes by may however occur at any time during the day. Rarely does nausea and vomiting become troublesome at night.
Following the experience and the knowledge that she may vomit her food and water that she ingests, the pregnant woman may start to avoid food. So, her appetite goes down as a result.
The good news is that by the end of the third month or 12 weeks since she last saw her period, the nausea and vomiting may stop. In some occasions, the morning sickness can continue until 16-20 weeks but rarely beyond.
The frequent vomiting may give rise to irritation in the chest as a result of stomach acid coming from stomach, towards the throat. Also, excessive salivation may accompany the nausea. The problem is how to dispose the excess saliva which cannot be swallowed. Despite the trouble of nausea, vomiting and excess saliva, the pregnant women are often desiring to eat strange food which is not within her reach: a condition that doctors have termed pica!
Treatment: The knowledge that the vomiting will stop eventually may be reassuring. However, eating small bits of food in spaced intervals may help. Avoiding acidic food such as citrus may also help. Spicy foods should also not be consumed at this time. The idea is to reduce stomach acid to as little as possible. Further, antacids which is available over the counter in pharmacies may be purchased to help this condition. Bed rest may also help.
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