Morning sickness is so common in pregnancy that it almost seems like a rite of passage. But while more than half of all pregnant women experience morning sickness, not all of them do! The nausea and vomiting usually begin around the sixth week of pregnancy and last until around the 12th week, but morning sickness can begin as early as week four, and it can linger long after week 12.

Despite its name, morning sickness can strike anytime — day or night. It's caused by the increase in estrogen, progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin, which support your pregnancy. Stress, fatigue and poor diet can make morning sickness worse.

Many doctors consider morning sickness a positive sign because it indicates that the placenta is developing well. But if you're one of those women who don't experience it, don't worry. Be grateful!

Here are some tips that mommy M.D.s — doctors who are also mothers — recommend for dealing with morning sickness.

"With both of my pregnancies, I had terrible morning sickness," says Kelly Campbell, M.D., an OB-GYN in West Bloomfield, Michigan. "It was bad with my daughter, but with my twins, it was unrelenting. I think that was because with twins, you have double the amount of hormones. I had an especially rough time when riding in a car. I found that anti-nausea wristbands helped a lot if I was the driver. I simply refused to ride in the backseat!"

"During my first pregnancy, I was an intern. I had to be at work by 7 a.m., so I didn't have time for morning sickness," says Erika Schwartz, M.D., a women's health specialist in New York City. "Instead, I vomited when I had time: at night. I believe that your body will adjust to your circumstances if you allow it to. I found that eating salty things, such as saltine crackers, made me feel better. After the third month or so, my 'night' sickness went away. Thank goodness."

"When I was pregnant, I had terrible morning sickness," says Ann Kulze, M.D., a nutrition expert in Charleston, South Carolina. "I found one thing that was amazingly effective: fresh, chopped-up ginger. It was a godsend for me. It allowed me to function. I took a thumbnail-size piece of fresh ginger root, chopped it fine and steeped it — like you would steep tea in hot water — for two to three minutes. I'd sip that all day long and chew up the ginger at the bottom of each mug. Afterward, my nausea had decreased by about 50%. Nothing else — not even prescription drugs — was as effective as the ginger tea."

Dr. Rallie's Tips

During my pregnancy, the biggest triggers for nausea were smells. I wasn't sensitive to many smells at home, but the minute I stepped into the hospital, I'd begin to feel queasy.

I was especially sensitive to chemical smells, including industrial cleaning solutions, air fresheners and antiseptic soaps and lotions.

To counteract the unpleasant, nausea-inducing smells, I carried a small tube of eucalyptus ointment in my pocket, and I dabbed a bit under my nose whenever the need arose. I found the smell of the eucalyptus blocked the unpleasant odors around me, quelled my nausea and had a calming effect on me. As a backup, I carried a pack of ginger candy in my pocket, which helped alleviate my nausea. — Rallie McAllister, M.D., MPH, mom of three, nationally recognized health expert and family physician in Lexington, Kentucky

Jennifer Bright is a mom of four, co-founder and CEO of Momosa Publishing and co-founder of the Mommy MD Guides. She lives in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. To find out more about Jennifer Bright and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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