How Early Does Morning Sickness Start?

Morning sickness usually starts to show as a pregnancy symptom during the first trimester of pregnancy (NHS, Start for Life).

The week morning sickness starts, varies between pregnant women, with some mothers never experiencing morning sickness at all.

For the majority of pregnant women, morning sickness occurs between 4-7 weeks of pregnancy and starts to peak between 9-16 weeks of pregnancy.

This article aims to answer all of your questions about morning sickness and includes some helpful tips on how to combat morning sickness.

How will I know that it’s morning sickness?

If you have recently discovered that you’re pregnant, you may be wondering how to tell morning sickness apart from an illness such as food poisoning or a vomiting bug.

It’s thought that the hormonal changes during the early stages of pregnancy are what causes morning sickness. If you are in the first trimester of pregnancy and you are experiencing symptoms such as an upset stomach, loss of appetite and vomiting then there is a high chance that it could be morning sickness.

Other symptoms caused by hormonal changes in early pregnancy include mood swings, fatigue, trouble sleeping, constipation and breast tenderness.

If you are experiencing symptoms such as a fever, diarrhea, chills or an intense headache then its always best to seek the advice of a GP or Pharmacist as it possible that your nausea and sickness could be related to food poisoning or a vomiting bug.

You should also be aware of a condition called hyperemesis gravidarum which is an extremely severe form of morning sickness that can cause dehydration and malnutrition. Please seek medical care and inform a midwife or GP if you think that you have hyperemesis gravidarum.

When does morning sickness end?

Morning sickness can start to subside during the second trimester of pregnancy and usually between weeks 16-20.

There’s no guarantee of which week morning sick will end. Although many women start to feel less sick during the second trimester of pregnancy and appetite usually starts to increase.

Does morning sickness differ depending on your baby’s sex?

There is a belief that severe morning sickness indicates that the baby will be a female.

At present there is no scientific evidence to prove that this is correct and so scientific research does not support this.

Other beliefs that people can have as an indicator of the baby's sex include:

Salty food cravings for boys and sweet food cravings for girls

Negative changes to your physical appearance mean that you’re having a girl and no appearance changes mean that you’re having a boy

Increased gas and feeling more tired means that you’re having a boy

Whilst it can be fun to try and guess the sex of your baby based on indicators such as morning sickness and food cravings, we definitely don’t recommend relying on this information as a fact.

Can you get morning sickness on a night?

A common misconception is that morning sickness only happens in the morning.

Despite its name, morning sickness can happen at any time of day or night and may even make you feel sick all day long.

What are the remedies for morning sickness?

Unfortunately, there is no cure for morning sickness but there are some remedies and things you can do to try and combat your morning sickness symptoms.

It’s also possible to improve your nausea symptoms without medication.

Remedies for nausea include:

Eating foods containing ginger
Drinking ginger tea
Sipping water little and often
Acupressure bracelets
Eating cold food in small but frequent amounts
Antiemetic medication
Getting plenty of rest
Deep breathing exercises

If you do feel as though antiemetic medication is the best option for you then you must inform your pharmacist that you are pregnant when purchasing any over-the-counter medicine.

Don't forget to try and open the windows when you can to allow fresh air to cool you down and remove any smells that could potentially make you nauseous.