The nine months of pregnancy can be full of strange and uncomfortable effects on a woman’s physical and emotional health. Morning sickness is a common pregnancy malady, but for some women, can be severe. Morning sickness is the name given to the feeling of nausea and vomiting some women experience. Despite its name, morning sickness can strike at any time during the day. Normally, this sickness only lasts the first trimester and gradually fades by the second trimester. Some women may experience a brief return of morning sickness late in their third trimester.The exact cause of morning sickness is unknown. Researchers think it may occur because of changing hormone levels during pregnancy. Human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG, levels go way up during early pregnancy and level off as the pregnancy progresses. This may cause issues of nausea and vomiting early on. Doctors believe that morning sickness can be a positive sign in early pregnancy because it means the pregnancy is progressing as it is supposed to. In fact, women who have no morning sickness have a greater risk of miscarriage.
Severe cases of persistent nausea and vomiting may require medications and hospitalizations. Although this sounds ominous, most cases involving these severe symptoms have a positive outcome with a healthy mother and baby at the end.
