Morning Sickness, I – Acupuncture and Morning Sickness
Why do they call it morning sickness when it lasts all day?
Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) is an unwelcome, but perfectly normal, part of pregnancy that does not put your baby at any increased risk.
Although NVP is sometimes trivialized as a minor inconvenience of pregnancy, it can have a significant, adverse affect on your day-to-day activities and quality of life.
Morning sickness is a catchall term used to describe everything from a hypersensitivity to odors or an aversion to certain foods to severe vomiting. Between 60 to 80 percent of pregnant women experience nausea, retching, and/or vomiting, at some time during their pregnancy. The degree of nausea and vomiting you have during one pregnancy does not predict how you will feel in future pregnancies. Most pregnant women have nausea and vomiting during the early months of pregnancy often beginning in the first month of pregnancy and continuing until the 14th to 16th week (when 90% of cases are resolved). However, some women have nausea and vomiting through their entire pregnancy.
NVP is thought to be caused by the hormonal, metabolic and chemical changes of early pregnancy. It is more likely to be a problem for women who are carrying twins or other multiples or who are feeling run down. Emotional stress, traveling, or some foods may also aggravate the nausea.
About 1 out of every 300 pregnant women develops a severe form of morning sickness known as hyperemesis gravidarum (Latin for “excessive vomiting in pregnancy”). This condition occurs when the body is unable to compensate for the relentless vomiting and loses valuable body salts (electrolytes) and body fluids. The disorder is thought to be linked to higher-than-usual levels of the hormones hCG and estrogen, and it is more common in first pregnancies, young women and women carrying multiples.
If you are suffering from Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy, don’t despair! There are things you can do for relief.
In Chinese Medicine, acupuncture is the primary treatment for morning sickness in pregnancy. Acupuncture helps the body to balance itself and redirect energy flow, bringing relief from symptoms.
Energy can flow upward, downward, inward and outward. In digestion, the normal flow is downward. Food is eaten, digested and evacuated. But when a person is nauseated and/or vomiting, the usual downward flow has been reversed. This is called “counter flow of Stomach Energy (Qi)” in Chinese Medicine. There are a number of patterns that underlie counter flow. Distinguishing the exact pattern allows the acupuncturist to offer an effective treatment.
The Patterns for Morning Sickness
• Spleen and Stomach Energy (Qi) deficiency: Nausea and vomiting with epigastric fullness and bloating, no desire for food and drink, exhaustion and heaviness of limbs.
• Liver invading Spleen: Nausea and vomiting with a bitter or sour taste, depression or irritability, tendency to sigh and to be easily angered, chest heaviness.
• Stomach Fire: vomiting of food soon after it has been eaten, persistent thirst for cold drinks, heartburn, dizziness, constipation, red face, chapped lips.
• Phlegm: vomiting mucus or constant spitting of saliva.
It is possible to have a combination of patterns. An experienced practitioner can use acupuncture to help your body to balance itself. When the body returns to relative balance, symptoms disappear. With the constant changes of pregnancy, balancing becomes a lively, sophisticated dance.
