Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Aug 4;22(1):614. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-04916-4.
Vomiting is a common ailment during pregnancy, often linked to negative impacts on women's quality of life. Very little is known about the issue in low income settings, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, with studies from high income settings predominantly informing the evidence base. This study aimed to explore how women perceive vomiting during pregnancy and to measure its prevalence, severity and impacts in North-east Nigeria.
Qualitative in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, family interviews and a cross-sectional household survey were carried out between December 2015 and November 2016 with women who had given birth within the past two years. Purposive sampling and thematic analysis were used in the qualitative studies. A three-staged cluster sampling with 640 women and descriptive analyses were used in the survey.
Women in the qualitative studies reported that vomiting was a normal part of pregnancy, unless a woman vomits after eating, has poor appetite, is not well-nourished, cannot perform chores, is overwhelmed by it or has to go to hospital. In the survey, 35.4% (95% CI 26.5-45.5) of women reported any vomiting during their last pregnancies and of these only 21.1% said it had stopped entirely within the first trimester. Over half of women who reported vomiting did so at least three times per day most days and 34.7% were vomiting five or more times per day during the most severe period. Care-seeking was reported by 61.5%. Both the qualitative and quantitative data found that vomiting impacted women in multiple ways including nutritionally, physiologically, mentally, financially and martially; 50.8% of women with any vomiting in the survey perceived the overall severity of the condition negatively.
Vomiting during pregnancy is dually seen as normal and problematic depending on its characteristics and impacts. The burden appears to be high with many women seeking care for the condition.
妊娠呕吐是孕期常见的不适，常对孕妇的生活质量产生负面影响。在收入较低的环境中，尤其是撒哈拉以南非洲地区，对这一问题知之甚少，而来自高收入环境的研究主要为证据基础提供信息。本研究旨在探讨尼日利亚东北部地区的女性如何看待妊娠呕吐，并衡量其流行程度、严重程度及其影响。
2015 年 12 月至 2016 年 11 月，对过去两年内分娩的女性进行了定性深入访谈、焦点小组讨论、家庭访谈和横断面家庭调查。在定性研究中采用了目的抽样和主题分析。在调查中采用了三阶段聚类抽样，共 640 名女性，并进行了描述性分析。
定性研究中的女性报告说，呕吐是怀孕的正常现象，除非女性在进食后呕吐、食欲不振、营养不良、无法完成家务、不堪重负或需要去医院。在调查中，35.4%（95%CI 26.5-45.5）的女性报告称在最近的妊娠中出现过任何呕吐，其中只有 21.1%的人表示在孕早期完全停止。一半以上报告呕吐的女性每天至少呕吐三次，大多数日子最严重的时期每天呕吐五次或更多次。61.5%的人寻求过医疗护理。定性和定量数据都发现，呕吐以多种方式影响女性，包括营养、生理、心理、经济和婚姻方面；调查中 50.8%有任何呕吐的女性对该疾病的总体严重程度持负面看法。
妊娠呕吐既被视为正常现象，也被视为有问题，这取决于其特征和影响。许多女性都在为这种情况寻求医疗护理，因此负担似乎很高。
