Frequency and Severity of Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy and the Related Factors among Pregnant Women

Nausea and vomiting are the most common problems in early pregnancies which 50% to 80% of the women have experienced them in different degrees. This problem leads to physical and psychological disordes and may damage family relations and social functions of pregnant women. Although, the etiology of the problem is not known but some risk factors influence on this situation. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the frequency and severity of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and the related factors among pregnant women. The design of the study was a cross-sectional study. The study population was all the pregnant women attending to health centers in Hamedan. The sample size was 700 pregnant women with gestational age of 6 to 16 weeks. The sampling method, was multistage sampling and the study setting was the prenatal clinics in health centers in Hamedan. The data collection was a questionnaire. The study results showed that, the frequency of nausea and vomiting was %69.7 with the categorization of mild, moderate and severe (%37.4, %46.7 and %16) respectively. Also, according to the logistic regression analysis, there were significant relationships between nausea vomiting and motion sickness (P=0.000), smelling an odor (P=0.000), premenstrual syndrome (P=0.000) and unwanted pregnancy as influencing factors on inducing nausea and vomiting. Besides, multiple regression analysis test indicated significant independent correlations between severity of nausea-vomiting and migraine headache (P=0.000), motion sickness (P=0.001), smelling an odor (P=0.001), age of menarche (P=0.000), premenstrual syndrome (P=0.000) and social support (P=0.000). According to the study results, the frequency of nausea and vomithing was considerable and special care and attention is needed to control the related factors of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women.