Morning sickness
Morning sickness refers to nausea that often – but not exclusively – occurs in the morning in pregnant women. This is not a technical term and can be misleading.
A misleading term
The term "morning sickness" is misleading because it distorts the time, duration, and, above all, the severity of the symptoms.
It is therefore advisable to use more precise terms such as pregnancy nausea or pregnancy vomiting to better reflect the extent and possible severity (up to hyperemesis gravidarum).
Where does the term "morning sickness" come from?
In popular medical texts and advice guides, "morning sickness" has been used for decades as a common term for the nausea that is common in early pregnancy, mainly because many of those affected experience the symptoms particularly strongly in the morning on an empty stomach.
Medical sources now explicitly state that this is pregnancy nausea or vomiting and that the symptoms can occur at any time of day, which is why the term "morning sickness" is increasingly being criticized as inaccurate or trivializing.
Nausea according to time of day
Many pregnant women report that nausea is particularly pronounced in the morning after getting up; low blood sugar, long periods of fasting, and changes in hormone levels are among the factors blamed for this.
However, nausea and possibly vomiting can also occur during the day, in the evening, or even at night, or persist throughout the day, which is why the term "morning sickness" does not adequately describe the course of the condition.
Nausea and blood sugar levels
Blood sugar levels play an important role in morning sickness. Fasting overnight causes blood sugar levels to be low in the morning (hypoglycemia). This can cause nausea and dizziness, especially during pregnancy. Fluctuations or even high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia), as occur in diabetes, can also trigger nausea.
To counteract this, it can help to keep a small snack such as crackers or rusks on your bedside table and eat it after waking up. This raises your blood sugar before you get up.
Throughout the day, small, regular meals can help alleviate nausea by keeping blood sugar levels constant. Instead of fewer large meals, it is better to eat several small portions throughout the day to avoid blood sugar spikes and drops.
In addition, neutral foods such as rusks, bananas, nuts, or rice are often better tolerated than spicy or very sweet foods. It is also important to drink enough fluids: water or diluted juices help with dehydration, which can make nausea worse.
This article has been written in accordance with scientific standards and has been thoroughly checked for accuracy by ITF Pharma GmbH.
Published on 26.02.2026
Sources
- Madjunkova, S., Maltepe, C., Koren, G.: The Delayed-Release Combination of Doxylamine and Pyridoxine (Diclegis®/Diclectin®) for the Treatment of Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy, Pediatr. Drugs 2014, 16: 199–211;
- Klebanoff, MA., et al. Obstet Gynecol. 1985, 66, 612–616;
- Vellacott, ID., et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 1988, 27(1): 57–62;
- Lacroix, R., et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2000, 182: 931–937;
- Committee on Practice Bulletins-Obstetric: ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 189: Nausea And Vomiting Of Pregnancy, Obstet Gynecol. 2018, 131(1) e15–e30. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002456;
- Miller, F., Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2002, 186: 182–3;
- Mazzotta, P. et al. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 2001; 22: 7–12;
- O’Brien, E. et al. Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy: effects on the quality of women ’s lives. Birth 1992, 19(3): 138–43.
- Gadsby, R., Ivanova, D., Trevelyan, E., Hutton, J. L., & Johnson, S. (2020). Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is not just ‘morning sickness’: data from a prospective cohort study in the UK. British Journal of General Practice, 70(697), e534–e539. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp20x710885
Testimonials
