According to British researchers, the term "morning sickness", which characterizes the condition of many women in early pregnancy, should be avoided. Explanations.
If nausea is a common symptom in early pregnancy, it would seem that the term "morning sickness" is inappropriate. In fact, this nausea can occur at any time of the day and can therefore mislead the pregnant woman, or even worry her into thinking that a nauseated state occurring in the afternoon or evening would be abnormal. In addition, what is included in nausea also includes vomiting, especially in early pregnancy.
However, since this is not specified, the mother-to-be may assume that she is going beyond simple nausea and is coming down with something more serious. Researchers from the University of Warwick in Great Britain have reached these conclusions, which were published on June 30 in the British Journal of General Practice.
A nauseated state not especially in the morning.
To achieve these results, scientists asked 256 pregnant women to keep a diary to describe their symptoms during the first two months of pregnancy. Those who felt nauseated or vomiting were asked to record the times of day they felt nauseated or vomiting. They found that 94.2%, or almost all of the expectant mothers surveyed, had experienced one of these symptoms and 58% had experienced both nausea and vomiting. It turns out that while vomiting occurs more frequently in the morning, between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m., many pregnant women still noted vomiting in the evening. Another finding of the researchers is that nausea may begin in the morning, but often persists throughout the day.
"Morning sickness" a wrong term
In view of these results, the researchers suggest to stop using the term "morning sickness" which can therefore mislead pregnant women. On the one hand because this nausea can occur at any time of the day and on the other hand because this condition is not always limited to simple nausea, but is accompanied by vomiting for some future mothers. "'Morning sickness' is widely used by the general public, the media and even health professionals, but it does not give a realistic description of these symptoms.
If a pregnant woman has vomiting in the afternoon, she may think it is unusual or bad, or if she vomits but feels nauseous all day long, she may think that the term 'morning sickness' does not apply to her. And women who experience severe symptoms feel that this trivializes the situation," Professor Roger Gadsby says on the University of Warwick website.
"Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy", the new denomination
But then how can we define this frequent condition in pregnant women? Researchers propose to use "nausea and vomiting of pregnancy" (NVP) instead. A more global and precise definition that leaves no room for doubt. We now look forward to the second trimester because, as the British researchers remind us, these symptoms of "NVP" often appear from the fifth week of pregnancy and are particularly apparent during the seventh and then generally disappear afterwards.
