“Morning sickness” is a symptom of pregnancy suffered by many women, but the accuracy of the term has been called into question by many who feel that it belittles the condition. Researchers at Swiss Precision Diagnostics Development Company Limited conducted a study which observed the daily variation in nausea and vomiting symptoms.

256 pregnant women were studied, and throughout the study, they kept daily diaries to track symptom patterns and changes, as well as provided daily urine samples to test hormone levels. Researchers used this data to create estimated symptom probability functions.

At the conclusion of the study, it was found that there was a “peak probability of nausea in the morning, a lower but sustained probability of nausea throughout the day, and a slight peak in the evening.” With these results in mind, it was concluded that the use of the term “morning sickness” is inaccurate and unhelpful to those who are experiencing it as it afflicts them throughout their day, instead of just in the morning.  Better terms proposed by researchers are “nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP)” or “pregnancy sickness.”

To read more about this study, please click here.

Source: https://bjgp.org/content/early/2020/06/29/bjgp20X710885