Morning Sickness: What Is Normal and What Helps

What morning sickness feels like

Morning sickness ranges from a mild queasy feeling to repeated vomiting. Common features:

• nausea that is often worse on waking or when your stomach is empty, but can last all day
• vomiting, often triggered by smells, certain foods, cooking, brushing teeth or travel
• a heightened sense of smell
• food aversions and cravings
• excess saliva
• a metallic or bitter taste
• tiredness, which makes nausea feel worse

When does morning sickness start and end?

Vomiting that starts for the first time after 10 weeks is unlikely to be morning sickness and should be checked for another cause, such as a urinary infection, stomach bug, gallbladder disease or high blood pressure problems.

Is morning sickness a good sign?

Studies have found that people with nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy have a somewhat lower risk of miscarriage, likely reflecting healthy pregnancy hormone levels. But having no morning sickness is also normal and is not a sign that anything is wrong. Many people with healthy pregnancies never feel sick. Symptoms that suddenly stop are also common around the end of the first trimester and are usually not a concern.

When morning sickness is more than normal

Hyperemesis gravidarum

About 1 in 100 pregnant people develop hyperemesis gravidarum: severe, persistent vomiting causing dehydration, weight loss and abnormal blood salts. It often needs medicines, intravenous fluids and sometimes a hospital stay. It is a medical condition, not a failure to cope.

Signs of dehydration

• dark urine or passing little urine
• dizziness when standing
• dry mouth and lips
• headache and extreme tiredness

Things that make sickness worse

Morning sickness tends to be more severe with twins or more (multiple pregnancy), a history of severe sickness in a past pregnancy, migraines, motion sickness, and in a molar pregnancy, a rare abnormal pregnancy found on ultrasound.

The condition page on morning sickness explains the causes, severity scoring and medical treatments in more detail.

Morning sickness remedies that help

Eating and drinking

• Eat small amounts every 1 to 2 hours. An empty stomach worsens nausea.
• Keep plain crackers or dry toast by the bed and eat a few before getting up slowly.
• Choose bland, starchy, cold foods, which smell less: crackers, toast, rice, potatoes, bananas, yogurt.
• Add protein where you can: protein snacks seem to ease nausea more than carbohydrate alone.
• Sip fluids between meals rather than with them. Cold, fizzy, or sour drinks (lemon water, ginger ale) are often easier.
• Avoid fatty, spicy and strong-smelling foods.

Ginger and acupressure

• Ginger (tea, capsules, candies or biscuits) has evidence for reducing nausea.
• Acupressure wristbands on the P6 point inside the wrist help some people, with no side effects.

Lifestyle

• Avoid triggers: cooking smells, perfume, stuffy rooms, heat.
• Rest: tiredness makes nausea worse.
• Get fresh air and open windows.
• Switch prenatal vitamins: iron can worsen nausea. Try taking your vitamin at night with a snack, or ask about a vitamin with less iron in the first trimester. Keep taking folic acid.
• Rinse your mouth after vomiting. Wait 30 minutes before brushing to protect enamel from acid.

Medicines

If home measures are not enough, talk to your doctor or midwife. Treatment is safe and effective:

• Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), alone or combined with the antihistamine doxylamine, is the usual first medicine.
• Other antihistamines and anti-sickness medicines can be prescribed if needed.
• Acid reducers help if heartburn adds to nausea.

Do not take any medicine or herbal remedy in pregnancy without checking it is safe.

Frequently asked questions

When does morning sickness start?

Most people notice it around week 6 of pregnancy, counted from the first day of the last period, though it can begin as early as week 4. It typically peaks around weeks 8 to 10 and improves by weeks 14 to 16.

Why is it called morning sickness if it lasts all day?

Many people feel worst in the morning, when the stomach is empty after the night. But nausea can occur at any time, and for many it lasts all day. "Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy" is the more accurate medical term.

Is it normal to have no morning sickness?

Yes. Around a third of pregnant people have little or no nausea, and their pregnancies are just as healthy. Lack of symptoms is not a sign of a problem.

Can morning sickness harm the baby?

Ordinary morning sickness does not harm the baby, even if you eat little for a few weeks, because early nutrient needs are small. Severe vomiting with dehydration and weight loss (hyperemesis gravidarum) needs treatment to protect both of you.

What can I eat to stop morning sickness?

Small, frequent, bland snacks work best: crackers, toast, rice, bananas, yogurt and cold foods with little smell. Protein snacks such as nuts or cheese help too. Sip fluids between meals and try ginger in tea, biscuits or candies.