概述
Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy is a common condition that affects the health of both the pregnant woman and her fetus. It can diminish the woman’s quality of life and also contributes significantly to health care costs and time lost from work (1). Because “morning sickness” is common in early preg-nancy, the presence of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy may be minimized by health care providers and by pregnant women (1) and, thus, undertreated. One investigator found that fewer than 50% of women who called a nausea and vomiting of pregnancy hotline and who subsequently terminated their pregnan-cies because of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy had been offered any sort of antiemetic therapy (2, 3). Of those offered treatment, 90% were offered regimens that were not likely to be effective. Furthermore, some women do not seek treatment because of concerns about safety (4). Yet, once symptoms of nau-sea and vomiting of pregnancy progress, treatment can become more difficult; treatment in the early stages may prevent more serious complications, includ-ing hospitalization (5). Mild cases of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy may be resolved with lifestyle and dietary changes, and safe and effective treatments are available for more severe cases. The woman’s perception of the severity of her symptoms plays a critical role in the decision of whether, when, and how to treat nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. In addition, nausea and vomiting of pregnancy should be distinguished from nausea and vomiting related to other causes. The purpose of this document is to review the bbest available evidence about the diagnosis and management of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy.