(Reuters Health) - For women with a history of miscarriage, experiencing nausea and vomiting during subsequent pregnancy attempts is linked to higher odds of success, a U.S. study suggests.
“This study came from the long-standing idea that nausea and vomiting in pregnancy indicated that a woman was still pregnant,” said lead study author Stefanie Hinkle, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
As many as 80 percent of pregnant women experience nausea, vomiting, or both, Hinkle and colleagues note in JAMA Internal Medicine.
The current study included about 800 pregnant women with at least one or two prior miscarriages.
All of the women had pregnancies confirmed by lab tests and they were around 29 years old on average at the start of the study.
A typical pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, and women have the highest risk of miscarriage in the first trimester, roughly the first 12 weeks. Odds of a miscarriage are higher for women that are older or have certain medical problems such as diabetes, lupus or thyroid disorders.
For the study, women recorded nausea and vomiting symptoms in daily diaries from weeks 2 through 8 of their pregnancies. Then, starting with week 12, they reported symptoms in monthly questionnaires.
After two weeks of pregnancy, 18 percent of the women reported nausea without vomiting, while 4 percent said they experienced both symptoms.
By eight weeks of pregnancy, 57 percent experienced nausea alone and 27 percent had a combination of nausea and vomiting.
As women approached the 12-week mark, 86 percent reported nausea and 35 percent reported nausea combined with vomiting.
In general, women younger than 25 were more likely to experience nausea and vomiting than the older participants in the study.
Overall, 188 pregnancies (24 percent) ended in another miscarriage.
Nausea and vomiting were associated with a 50 percent to 75 percent lower risk of pregnancy loss, the study found.
“Our findings should be reassuring to women experiencing these symptoms, as the risk for a pregnancy loss is greatly reduced in women with these symptoms,” Hinkle said by email.
The study doesn’t explain why women who have these symptoms may be more likely to have successful pregnancies, the authors caution.
It’s possible that nausea and vomiting may be the body’s way of getting women to alter their diets during pregnancy, or that a surge in pregnancy hormones triggers these symptoms, the authors suggest.
Limitations of the study include the reliance on women to accurately recall and report symptoms in their diaries, the researchers point out. Researchers also lacked data on the severity of nausea and vomiting.
Still, the findings add to a large body of evidence linking nausea and vomiting to a lower risk of miscarriage, Dr. Siripanth Nippita, a reproductive health researcher at Harvard Medical School in Boston, noted in an accompanying editorial.
Women need to keep in mind that these symptoms don’t protect against miscarriage, and that severe morning sickness can require treatment to minimize the risk of complications during pregnancy, Nippita said by email.
“Nausea and vomiting are common during pregnancy,” Nippita said. “Many women don’t experience it and still go on to have normal, healthy pregnancies. On the other hand, women who do experience it may still have a loss.”
“The association between nausea and vomiting and a continuing pregnancy is true for the population in this study, but an individual’s experience may be different,” Nippita added.
SOURCE: bit.ly/2cymBTp and bit.ly/2ddygDa JAMA Internal Medicine, online September 26, 2016.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.