Morning Sickness: What Helps and When It’s Hyperemesis

For some, morning sickness is a mild feeling of nausea in the morning; for others, it’s a condition that dominates their entire day for weeks on end. Here you can read about what helps, when it usually stops, and how to recognize severe morning sickness. And LIINI co-founder Olivia Wyss shares her experience.

Morning sickness: How common is it? When does it start? When does it end?

According to the SGGG, 50 to 80 percent of pregnant women experience nausea, with or without vomiting. Despite being called “morning sickness,” according to the NHS, it can occur at any time of day. This is how it usually goes:

• Onset: usually between the 4th and 7th week of pregnancy, according to the British medical society RCOG. The due date calculator shows which week you’re currently in.
• Peak: around the 9th week, according to experts at the Aarau Cantonal Hospital.
• End: for many, around the 16th week (SGGG); for 9 out of 10 women, by the 20th week (RCOG).
• Longer: In about 1 in 10 women, it lasts beyond the 20th week (RCOG); in rare cases, it continues until delivery (SGGG).

Nausea During Pregnancy: What Helps in Everyday Life?

Let’s be honest right off the bat: According to the German institute IQWiG, most everyday tips haven’t been thoroughly researched. Nevertheless, organizations such as the NHS, RCOG, and SGGG recommend these simple measures.

• Eat small meals frequently: The SGGG recommends eating small meals about every 1 to 2 hours. The RCOG recommends high-carbohydrate, low-fat foods such as potatoes, rice, or pasta.
• Start with something dry: Eat something dry before you get out of bed, such as crackers or toast (familienplanung.de, NHS).
• Drink in small sips: According to the NHS, drinking small amounts frequently can help prevent vomiting.
• Avoid triggers: Avoid smells and foods that make you feel nauseous. familienplanung.de also advises against very greasy, sweet, or spicy foods, as well as coffee, black tea, and carbonated beverages.
• Cold Instead of Hot: If cooking odors bother you, cold foods are often more pleasant (NHS).
• Rest: Fatigue can make nausea worse (NHS). Plan breaks.

What about ginger, acupressure, and the like? Here’s what the research says:

Severe Morning Sickness: When It’s Hyperemesis Gravidarum

With hyperemesis gravidarum, the nausea is so severe that you can no longer manage your daily routine or eat and drink normally (RCOG). Depending on the study, it affects about 0.3 to 3 out of every 100 pregnant women (SGGG). Healthcare professionals look for persistent vomiting, dehydration, and weight loss of more than 5 percent of body weight (SGGG). As a general guideline, familienplanung.de cites vomiting more than 5 times a day.

Women carrying twins or multiple babies, and women who were severely affected during a previous pregnancy, are at higher risk (NHS, RCOG). According to the NHS, typical signs of dehydration include thirst, fatigue, dizziness, and small amounts of dark, strong-smelling urine.

Treatment: What Your Doctor Can Do

Your doctor will work with you to decide whether and how you will be treated. First, according to the SGGG, she rules out other causes of vomiting.

• Medications for Nausea: There are medications that can be used during pregnancy (NHS). Your doctor will decide which one is right for you. Don’t do anything on your own.
• Fluids and salts: If you’re dehydrated, you’ll receive IV fluids, sometimes with B vitamins (familienplanung.de).
• At home or in the hospital: Most women are treated at home or on an outpatient basis (RCOG). If your metabolism is out of balance, you’ll need to be admitted to a hospital (familienplanung.de).

Here’s how to prepare for the appointment:

1. Write down: How many times a day do you vomit, what stays down, and how much do you drink?
2. Weigh Yourself: Write down your weight before pregnancy and today.
3. The list of remedies also includes vitamins, iron, and herbal remedies.
4. Describe Your Daily Life: Explain openly how much your symptoms limit your life—that’s the advice from the NHS. If it helps you, bring someone along.

Severe nausea also takes a toll on mental health (RCOG, familienplanung.de). If you’re feeling anxious, down, or hopeless, tell your care team. According to experts at the Aarau Cantonal Hospital, good psychological care is an essential part of this.

Work and Daily Life: Medical Certificates and Your Rights

If you are unable to work, your doctor can issue you a medical certificate. According to the cantons of Zurich and Basel-Stadt, the following applies in Switzerland:

• Absence from Work: Pregnant women may stay away from work based solely on their own declaration. However, the wages are not necessarily owed in that case, especially without a doctor’s note.
• Doctor’s note: This proves that you are unable to work for health reasons. How long salary payments continue depends on the number of years of service, the contract, and any daily sickness benefit insurance.
• Rest: Pregnant women must be able to lie down and rest at work under appropriate conditions.
• Protection Against Dismissal: After the probationary period, your employer may not terminate your permanent employment contract during your pregnancy or within the 16 weeks following childbirth.

Germany and Austria have their own rules. Information on what applies after childbirth can be found in the guide *Maternity and Paternity Leave in Switzerland*.

Here’s How Partners and Those Around You Can Help

For outsiders, it’s hard to imagine how debilitating weeks of nausea can be. The NHS encourages those affected to talk about how they’re feeling with their partners, family, and friends. Feel free to share this checklist:

• Take it seriously instead of brushing it off: don’t just say, “That’s just part of it.”
• Take charge of cooking and open the windows to prevent odors from spreading throughout the apartment.
• In the evening, place a glass of water and a snack next to your bed.
• Taking care of siblings and handling household chores.
• Ask her how she’s doing emotionally, and listen.
• Be aware of the warning signs, and if the light is red, don’t wait—call instead.
• Take the pressure off planning: Your partner can also use a checklist to buy the baby’s initial supplies.

If you’re looking for a gift, you’ll find ideas for later in the ” Gifts for Newborns” guide.

In her own words: “My body almost feels like it’s been poisoned.”

At the time, she was in the second trimester of her second pregnancy. The nausea and vomiting were almost worse than the first time, when they lasted until the 7th month. “My body almost feels like it’s been poisoned,” she wrote.

Unlike in the movies, she didn’t just vomit briefly in the morning; the nausea stayed with her all day. She compared the feeling to riding the roller coaster at Europa-Park ten times, followed by fried apple rings after each ride. Still, she had to make it all work: her job, her daughter, her relationship.

Prescription medications helped her only briefly and not completely. Ginger tea, cola, or even eating something light while lying down didn’t really help her, nor did homeopathic pellets or a spagyric spray. Just when she was at her lowest point, another mother told her that pregnancy isn’t an illness. For her, this condition was worse than being sick, because it lasted for months. Her request: “Please don’t judge how other pregnant women feel.”

Her conclusion: “If you’re not feeling well during this time, it’s not selfish to seek help and take care of your own body.” The moments you’ll experience later as a family are worth it, “for better or for worse.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. Expert Letter No. 76: Nausea and Vomiting During Pregnancy, Hyperemesis Gravidarum, Swiss Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SGGG)
2. Hyperemesis during Pregnancy, Stähli R, Todesco M, Aarau Cantonal Hospital, Gynecology 3/2020
3. Pregnancy – Health Insurance Benefits, SGGG
4. Amendment to the Health Insurance Act (KVG): Cost-Containment Measures – Package 2, Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH)
5. Implementation of Cost-Containment Package 2: New Rules on Reference Rates, Laboratories, and Determining the Start of Pregnancy, FOPH Press Release, November 26, 2025
6. Maternity Leave in the Workplace, Canton of Zurich, Office of Economic Affairs
7. Protection of Female Employees During Pregnancy and Maternity (Fact Sheet), Canton of Basel-Stadt, Office of Economic Affairs and Labor
8. Vomiting and Morning Sickness, NHS
9. Severe vomiting during pregnancy (hyperemesis gravidarum), NHS
10. Pregnancy sickness (nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum), Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG)
11. What helps relieve nausea during pregnancy?, gesundheitsinformation.de, Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG)
12. Nausea and Vomiting, familienplanung.de, Federal Institute for Public Health
13. Severe morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum), familienplanung.de, Federal Institute for Public Health
14. Emergencies in Switzerland, ch.ch
15. Emergency Numbers, gesundheit.gv.at, Austria’s Public Health Portal