Study Of African Women Suggests Morning Sickness Can Be Harmful.

2001 MAR 8 - (NewsRx.com) -- New research raises questions about the hypothesis that morning sickness serves a beneficial function in protecting a developing fetus.

The study among the Turkana people of Kenya found that women with morning sickness were more than twice as likely to have their fetus or newborn baby die, compared with pregnant women who did not have regular nausea and vomiting.

These results challenge a hypothesis - and limited research evidence - that suggests morning sickness actually helps the developing baby by discouraging women from eating foods containing chemicals that might harm a fetus.

Most studies that have found benefits to nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy have been conducted in the United States or other Western countries where pregnant women have access to proper nutrition, said Ivy Pike, author of the new study and assistant professor of anthropology at Ohio State University. If women in developing countries are unable to eat normally because of nausea and vomiting, they may not be able to provide proper nutrition for their fetus.

"We have had so little information from women in developing countries where proper nutrition is not always readily available," Pike said. "This study suggests that the nutritional costs incurred as a result of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy may have negative consequences for women and their babies later on." The study was published in the journal Human Nature.

Pike gathered data during a 13-month field study in 1993 and 1994 among the Turkana, who are nomadic livestock herders who live in a region of Kenya that receives limited rainfall and often experiences drought. As a result, there is often seasonal variation in the amount and types of food that are available.

Pike was able to follow 68 women who were pregnant at some point during the field study. She conducted interviews and did a variety of health tests during the course of the pregnancies.