HealthInfo Canterbury
Nausea & vomiting in pregnancy (morning sickness)
The common name for feeling sick (nausea) and vomiting during pregnancy is morning sickness. It's very common and may be the first sign you're pregnant. It usually starts around six weeks after a woman's last period and goes away after 12 to 16 weeks, but it sometimes lasts longer.
Although it's called morning sickness, it can happen at any time of the day or night. Morning sickness doesn't harm your baby.
We don't know exactly what causes nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, but it's probably related to the hormonal changes that happen in pregnancy.
Self-care for morning sickness
Although morning sickness usually goes away after a while, it can be difficult to cope with.
There are some things that might help you. Different things work for different women.
- Eat small regular meals or snacks rather than large meals. An empty stomach makes nausea worse for some women.
- Try bland food such as crackers or toast.
- If you feel sick early in the morning, try eating a dry cracker or biscuit before getting out of bed.
- Drink ginger tea, eat ginger biscuits or take ginger supplements (the recommended dose for ginger supplements is up to 1 g a day spread throughout the day).
- Take vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), which may help some women control nausea. The recommended dose for pregnant women is 25 mg three times a day.
- Avoid fatty foods.
- Regularly sip fluids during the day but avoid alcohol and caffeine.
- Eat something salty early in the day.
- Get some fresh air each day.
- Wear acupressure bands on your wrists (you can buy them from pharmacies and online).
- Get as much rest as you can when you feel sick and ask friends and family for help if possible.
Severe morning sickness
A few women have more severe nausea and vomiting. If this happens to you, talk to your GP or midwife about medicines to help with the nausea, such as cyclizine, prochlorperazine, or metoclopramide. It's important to only use prescribed anti-sickness medicines during pregnancy. Don't take any medicine when you're pregnant unless you've checked with your midwife, GP or pharmacist that it's safe.
Some women have very severe symptoms, become dehydrated and lose weight. This is called hyperemesis gravidarum (hi-per-em-is-is grav-i-dar-um). If this happens to you, you'll need care that includes intravenous fluids and medications.
Getting help for morning sickness
You should see your GP or midwife if you:
- are struggling with morning sickness
- have more than 24 hours when you can't keep down fluids
- have noticed that your urine is darker (more concentrated) than usual
- are feeling dizzy.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Patient.info – Morning sickness in pregnancy
More information about morning sickness, who gets it and how to manage it.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed December 2021.
SourcesReview key: HIHCP-311277
