Assessment of prevalence of nausea among pregnant women in dar es salaam

Abstract

Nausea is a common problem among pregnant women; it is also called morning sickness. The prevalence in the first trimester is up to 80% of pregnancies} (Flaxman & Sherman 2000). Symptoms range from mild nausea (often accompanied by aversions to certain foods) to frequent vomiting and hyper emesis (Furneaux et al. 2001). Until recently, NVP was thought to be simply an unfortunate by—product of dramatic hormonal changes during early pregnancy (Masson et al. 1985; Lagiou et al. 2003), with potentially negative consequences on offspring intrauterine growth and health in later life through resulting undernutrition .The aetiology of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is not known. Studies suggesting placental hormonal effects have not been conclusive? (Kauppila A, Huhtaniemi I, Ylikorkala O. Raised serum human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations in hyperemesis gravidarum. Br Med J 1979;1: 1670-1.) Some studies have suggested rapid rising of hormonal levels like, human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) 5, (Masson GM, Anthony F, Chau E. Serum chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), schwangerschaftsprotein 1 (SP1), progesterone and oestradiol levels in patients with nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy. Br J Obstet Gynaecol 1985; 92:211— 5.),estrogen and chronic infection with helicobacter pylori6 (Hayakawa S, Nakajima N, Karasaki—Suzuki M, Yoshinaga H, Arakawa Y, Satoh K, et al. Frequent presence of Helicobacter pylori genome in the saliva of patients with hyperemesis gravidarum. Am J Perinatol 2000; 17:243-7.), during early pregnancy as possible cause. Nausea tend to peak around the same time as levels. of MIG. Estrogen is another hormone that rises rapidly in early pregnancy.