Pregnancy sickness is something that is tightly associated with pregnancy. Almost all of us imagine pregnant women as constantly being sick and sensitive to various smells. Some of us may even attribute the first symptoms of pregnancy to the unusual pregnancy sickness. And definitely, this is one of the most prominent signs of pregnancy, which affects at least half of the pregnant women. It usually comes and goes on its own, and does not present any kind of serious threat to women or her baby. However, in some cases, pregnancy sickness can be so severe to cause dehydration, weight loss, low hydrogen ion concentration of arterial blood plasma, and low levels of potassium in blood. The severe cases of pregnancy sickness are rare, and occur in about 1 percent of all pregnancies. Usually, morning sickness begins in the first trimester of pregnancy, around the 6th week, and usually stops around the 12th week of pregnancy. However, some pregnant women may experience nausea and sickness in the later stages of their pregnancy – in the third trimester.
Pregnancy sickness in the late phase of pregnancy
In the third trimester, pregnancy sickness typically occurs after having a meal. Some women may even experience nausea accompanied with heartburn. The most probable cause for this is that the baby is getting bigger and putting more and more pressure on the stomach. Simply put, in the later stages of pregnancy, there is no room in women’s stomach for large meals. If this is the case, a woman may try eating smaller but more frequent meals, a couple of times a day. However, pregnancy sickness may also occur for some other equally natural reasons.
What else causes pregnancy sickness?
What exactly causes pregnancy sickness may drastically differ from one to another woman. Biologically speaking, hormonal levels will severely change during pregnancy and if everything works fine, the levels of hormone estrogen may increase by up to hundredfold. In some pregnant women, this change may affect the other bodily processes, contributing to pregnancy sickness.
Progesterone is also increased during pregnancy, to prevent early childbirth. However, this hormone can affect the stomach and intestines, too, causing them to relax. This may allow the excess stomach acids and mucosal damage caused by it.
Pregnancy sickness may also be caused by low blood sugar levels and increased sensitivity to odors. Some of the scientists even propose that pregnancy sickness serves as a defense mechanism, which protects the fetus against the toxins ingested by the mother. In support of this theory, scientists found that women who have no pregnancy sickness have higher risk of miscarriage or delivering a child with the certain birth defects.
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