Why do some women get 'morning' sickness whilst others don't?

[MorningSicknessIsHell]

I am 8 weeks pregnant with DC3. I've just dropped DC2 off at nursery and just about made it home, gagging, retching, hiding behind a postbox and other things to conceal my face on the walk back home.

I have a few friends who seem to sail through there pregnancies, maybe a little nausea but nothing they find debilitating... is 'morning' sickness a genetic thing? My mum was very sick with me and my sister.

I've tried medications, ginger , those wrist band things, I've tried eating as soon as I wake up. I really hate the first trimester and I'm finding it so unfair that I have to be sick!

Have you taken multivitamins before conceiving? I’ve read of a link with magnesium and B6 deficiency and morning sickness so might be worth checking you have enough of these . I hope you are managing!

I don't know that it's genetic. I know my mum had a bit if sickness, but not much. My sister felt a bit queasy a couple of times during 3 pregnancies. I was signed off work for 3 months with my first and only made it through my second due to medication.

To make it even more confusing my MIL was very sick with DH but not SIL. She put it down to the boy/girl thing but other people have said they felt worse with a boy not a girl. So even different pregnancies for the same mother can be different. (That's the hope I'm holding on to after HG with DS and being sick several times a day from 5 weeks to 20 and occasionally after that)

I had awful morning sickness with mine but very easy labours.

An old Irish midwife told me that if you have bad morning sickness at the beginning you will have an easy labour.

I took this as being an old wives tale but anyone I’ve ever told this has agreed that if they had morning sickness their labours were easy and vice versa, if they didn’t suffer sickness at the beginning their labours requires intervention etc.

I expect lots on here will say differently!

I read that's it's largely genetic. I think they may even have identified likely genes. I did a lot of researching into it after my first horrendous pregnancy.

Well the only one of my three I had morning sickness with was DD, my third, and labour lasted 45 minutes (as opposed to 17 1/2 hours with my first) so maybe the old wives tales are true 😁

@GestationalDiabetes That's interesting, I'll do some research on that! I only took Folic Acid and Vitamin C (help with Luteal phase). I can't keep any pregnancy vitamins or liquid down now at all.

@Seeline That sounds awful. What medication did you take with your second? Did it help much?

@RainbowCrayons I've got one of each and the sickness was bad with both! So no clues there for me.
HG is horrid, hopefully you aren't sick next time.

I think it can have a genetic element. My gran had HG as did my aunt and cousin. However my mum was very sick with my sister but not at all with me, which seems the most random of all. I was very nauseous but not sick with both ds and dd.

It's a very under researched area!

@LaraDeSalle

I had awful morning sickness with mine but very easy labours.

An old Irish midwife told me that if you have bad morning sickness at the beginning you will have an easy labour.

I took this as being an old wives tale but anyone I’ve ever told this has agreed that if they had morning sickness their labours were easy and vice versa, if they didn’t suffer sickness at the beginning their labours requires intervention etc.

I expect lots on here will say differently!

Ha! I wish! Emergency C sections with both! Haha Glad you had easy labours, very lucky :)

Always worse if your expecting a daughter

@Franca123

I read that's it's largely genetic. I think they may even have identified likely genes. I did a lot of researching into it after my first horrendous pregnancy.

Ooooh that's interesting, do you know anymore about it? Links! I wish they'd do more research into it, I would love to understand more.

I don't know OP, I had horrendous morning sickness up to 20 weeks or thereabouts. It was debilitating. It was my first pregnancy and it was twins too. The morning sickness and every other symptom that I had made for a very un-fun time

@LaraDeSalle yeah must be an old wives tale, or perhaps it does happen with the majority? no morning sickness here and I had a quick 4 hour, really easy labour! Couldn't believe how lucky I was as I was dreading what I'd be like through it all 😀

@LaraDeSalle

I had awful morning sickness with mine but very easy labours.

An old Irish midwife told me that if you have bad morning sickness at the beginning you will have an easy labour.

I took this as being an old wives tale but anyone I’ve ever told this has agreed that if they had morning sickness their labours were easy and vice versa, if they didn’t suffer sickness at the beginning their labours requires intervention etc.

I expect lots on here will say differently!

Not my experience. I was dreadfully sick in the first trimester and had a horrendous labour ending in an emergency c section. So your theory didn't work for me!

I was really ill with dd but not at all ill with the pregnancy that I subsequently miscarried. So maybe try to see the sickness as a sign that things are progressing as they should?

@LaraDeSalle

I had awful morning sickness with mine but very easy labours.

An old Irish midwife told me that if you have bad morning sickness at the beginning you will have an easy labour.

I took this as being an old wives tale but anyone I’ve ever told this has agreed that if they had morning sickness their labours were easy and vice versa, if they didn’t suffer sickness at the beginning their labours requires intervention etc.

I expect lots on here will say differently!

I had 2 “easy” labours and no nausea/sickness (sorry OP). Neither of them ever slept though so it balances out.

I would love to know the answer to this.

My sickness was worse with ds than DD.

It's genetic and hormones as well. In the same way the pill makes some women into raging monsters with no sex drive (like me) and others are totally unaffected at all.

Remember as well not everyone talks about how they're feeling, particularly in the early days of pregnancy. I didn't tell anyone I was pregnant with either DC until 12 weeks. But I felt as rough as a dog and couldn't stomach a lot of smells in that time.

An old Irish midwife told me that if you have bad morning sickness at the beginning you will have an easy labour.

That’s interesting - currently pregnancy with DS. Very minimal morning sickness with both this pregnancy and with DD who is a toddler (so I definitely refute the ‘worse with girls’ theory). However I had a hideous birth with DD, makes me rather relieved it’s a planned CS this time!

My mum didn’t really have any morning sickness was with me or my sister so I’ve assumed it was genetic. But it’s a really interesting area and as others say very under researched. I consider myself very lucky not to have suffered too much - I absolutely hate how feeling/being sick takes over completely when you’re unwell. Hats off to any woman who battles through bad sickness - you’re heroes.

I read that your diet before you got pregnant determined whether or not you got morning sickness.

I was so sick with DD I was bedridden for a couple of weeks but with DS a tiny bit of nausea but nothing a baguette couldn't sort out from my work canteen and I didn't need to take time off

Not sure about genetics. My mother suffered badly from morning sickness (she was prescribed Thalidomide in her first pregnancy) and one of my sisters did too, but another sister didn't and nor did I (sometimes feel a bit queasy but never vomited).

I found I could keep the queasiness to a minimum if I ate regularly. I used to take huge supplies of carrots and bread sticks to work. I also had to have a cooked meal at lunchtime. Sometimes I started feeling sick on my way home, but I was fine as soon as I ate.

It’s so annoying that some people get no sickness or only a tiny amount and others get full blown all day sickness and nausea. And the ones who had it mildly will usually tell you they know how you feel as they felt sick a couple of times and felt better when they’d eaten a ginger biscuit and have you tried that 😂

I have had it really, really badly in all 3 pregnancies. The worst in my current one. Literally all day unrelenting nausea and lots of episodes of vomiting throughout the day which has been hard to handle with 2 small children to look after. Having to stop on the school run to throw up at the side of the road has been a low point. Not planning any more pregnancies but I’m a bit miffed to have had it severely in every pregnancy as most people I know have had it mildly for at least some of their pregnancies! My mum said she had nothing with my brother or sister but lots with me.

I'm just under 8 weeks and off work as I feel sick 24/7 and find it really difficult to drink anything. My own mum had bad sickness for the first 16 weeks. I find it reassuring in a way, as this is an IVF pregnancy and feeling sick makes me feel like my hormones are doing the right things.

PS I was lucky with lack of sickness and easy labours both times so don't think there is a link there.

And I had girls, so don't agree with that theory either!