The Relationship of Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy with Pregnancy Complications

Background & aim: Nausea and vomiting are among the most common complaints during pregnancy observed in patients with severe pregnancy outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) with some pregnancy complications. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 778 mothers within the age range of 18-35 years who werew experiencing their first to third pregnancy and had single fetuses born from April to September 2017 in Shahroud Teaching Hospital, Shahroud, Iran. The study population was selected using the census method. The data were collected using a questionnaire included demographic characteristics as well as pregnancy complications. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was also used to assess nausea and vomiting. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 18) using the Chi-square test and Spearman correlation coefficient. Results: In this study, 72.75% of the mothers reported to have some degrees of nausea and vomiting. In this regard, based on the VAS, the mean score of NVP was obtained as 4.29±3.41. As the results indicated, NVP had a significant relationship with preterm labor (P=0.002), hypertension (P=0.003), anemia (P=0.002), and cesarean section (P=0.009). However, there was no association between nausea and vomiting with the medical illnesses during pregnancy, gestational diabetes, hypothyroidism, (P=0.12), and bleeding/ spotting. Conclusion: According to the results, NVP was associated with pregnancy complications including preterm delivery, hypertension, anemia, and cesarean section.