Childbirth can be a very stressful event for both the mother and the infant. There are multiple things going on with a woman’s body during this process it’s important to understand what can cause things like nausea to surface during the birthing stages, as this can be an added stressor to the mother during labor.
Nausea typically occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy and then subsides as the pregnancy matures. The morning sickness and nauseated feelings are typically a distant memory when a mother is in the laboring process. However, there are many women that encounter a reunion with these feelings during labor for a multitude of reasons. This can cause feelings of anxiety and stress for the mother if she doesn’t understand why this is happening and how to treat it so that she can go back to concentrating on the labor itself.
One of the most common causes of nausea happens to most women as their body is preparing for labor. They experience feelings of general sickness or discomfort that are completely normal. They could experience diarrhea or flu like symptoms without a fever, and have indigestion, nausea, or vomiting a day or so before labor begins. These symptoms easily treated by consuming clear liquids, like water, sipping on lightly carbonated sodas like Ginger ale and eating crackers. The thing that you want to remember here is the importance of staying hydrated. If you find you can’t keep anything down you’ll want to get to the hospital right away.
During the second stage of labor, when a woman is dilated between 4-5 centimeters many women will feel nauseous during a contraction. This is completely normal and can be helped with ice chips and lightly carbonated sodas. These are readily available at the hospital and many providers are familiar with treating this nausea during labor.
For many expectant mothers nausea gets increasingly worse in the transitional phase of labor, which occurs when dilation reaches 8-10 centimeters, prior to pushing. This will, again, happen during a contraction in most cases and while nothing can be done to prevent this, the nausea will typically subside after the contraction, and can be best helped by breathing.
The use of pain medication has become very common in delivery rooms, and so has one of the most common side effects of these medications, which are feelings of nausea. As your body goes through the phases of giving birth, you will probably experience general nausea, which can be worsened with the use of painkillers. Many physicians will try to aid this by giving a intravenous drug that is safe for pregnant women that helps to prevent nausea when administering pain killers. This will usually help, especially when coupled with the intake of clear liquids.
Less common causes of nausea are usually very simple to explain and have more to do with the foods the expecting mother consumed than not. Eating spicy foods or foods that have a lot of saturated fat can cause nausea to be worse during labor and delivery than what would be experienced when eating more healthy.
If you have tried some of the older folk remedies for trying to stimulate labor, like castor oil or other types of medications you will find that your nausea is almost uncontrollable. Try to stay away from these older, folksy remedies as it will make your labor much more uncomfortable as just sticking to the natural process. Preventing this is simple, because if you don’t use these things then you’ll not experience this discomfort. Stick to your approved lists of foods and medications.
In the south, it has been common for many women to eat clay or charcoal. Unfortunately this is bad for the mother and for the baby. Signs of nausea if an expectant mother has consumed things that are not fit for consumption are signs that she needs to be taken directly to the hospital. Many women in the south ate Clay or charcoal for years, as they believed it was good for the baby and made labor easier. Many of these women will consume clay or charcoal when the early signs of labor occur, and can make nausea and vomiting during later parts of labor much worse. It’s important to educate anyone that you might run into that is subscribing to this school of thought, before they have damaged their body or their baby.
Many women will take vitamins throughout the duration of their pregnancy, and will try to take their vitamins even when early labor begins. However, if the expectant mother is experiencing nausea, taking their vitamins will make the nausea worse. Feelings of nausea during labor means that you need to simply take the medication given by your doctor and stay away from the vitamins.
Severe nausea during labor can be a sign that the mother or baby is in distress. If you are experiencing severe nausea and vomiting, it is a sign that you need to go directly to the hospital because it could mean something is wrong. However, this isn’t common, and it’s important to remember that feelings of nausea are often normal when it comes to labor and delivery.
The good news is that most signs and symptoms of nausea are completely normal, and part of the birthing process, the bad news is that there is little that can be done to prevent or to treat this nausea other than grin and bear it. After having three children, I’ve learned that coping with the nausea is the best way to deal with it during labor, and to use simple methods like ice, Ginger ale, and crackers during the early stages of labor and switch to fluids only as my labor progressed. There are items on the market now, like preggie pops that are said to keep a mother comfortable and help to control the nausea during childbirth. In years to come, I am certain other remedies will be released, but until then, just know that your nausea is normal, and do your best to focus on your delivery!
