Sunday, February 19, 2012
Ask the Doctor: Pregnancy Upsets Stomach
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have just returned home after visiting my daughter and her husband.
She is pregnant and has a rough time keeping food down.
When I was pregnant with her, I was queasy, but I never threw up.
How common is this?
She has an OB doctor, and she’s scheduled to visit him.
I’m worried. What are the dangers of this? - L.M.
ANSWER: More than 50 percent of pregnant women are nauseated in the early stages of pregnancy, and many of them throw up.
It’s popularly called morning sickness, a misnomer if ever there was one.
The nausea and vomiting of pregnancy can happen at any time of the day.
It’s probably due to a rise in estrogen or human chorionic gonadotropin - two hormones whose levels increase in pregnancy.
A small number of women develop hyperemesis (HI-purr-EM-uh-siss) gravidarum (grav-uh-DAR-um), nausea with vomiting so extreme that they become dehydrated, lose weight and put the health of the fetus in jeopardy.
For morning sickness, things reach a peak at the ninth week of pregnancy.
By the end of the 12th week, 60% are much better, and by the 20th week practically all have recovered.
A high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet quells nausea and vomiting.
When pregnant women feel hungry, they should snack.
Crackers make a good snack.
An empty stomach is prone to develop nausea.
Large meals make matters worse.
Smaller, more frequent meals are best.
Ginger in capsules often keeps the stomach quieted.
If vomiting is out of hand and if the woman is losing weight, she has to see the doctor promptly.
The doctor can prescribe medicines to calm the stomach.
She might need hospitalization for intravenous feeding.
No pregnant woman who is vomiting frequently and losing weight can waste time in temporizing. The stakes are too high for her and her baby.
The message should be much more important than the messenger but still people just don’t read or take the responsibility of independent thinking. It seems more important to know who said it, to be on the “right” side. I don’t like bullies. I don’t care for people telling others what they should and should not say or how to say it. That’s my right, my opinion. Don’t have any problem signing my name to this but for now I’ll just use…
To Not Me,