No appetite during pregnancy: causes, consequences, ways to restore appetite

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Many people are accustomed to hearing that the expectant mother should eat for two. But very often a woman, in anticipation of a baby and for herself alone, is not always able to properly eat. A frequent and rather unpleasant phenomenon when there is no appetite during pregnancy. Why is this happening, should I be very worried about it, and most importantly, what to do in such a situation?

Trimesters and appetite

Appetite during pregnancy is a variable and individual category. However, speaking in general, there is a certain dependence of this condition on the gestational age.

First trimester

As a rule, there is no appetite during early pregnancy. It is during this period that the first (known to all) signs of conception of the fetus appear. These symptoms include: dizziness, vomiting, morning sickness. The following are the main causes of loss of appetite during pregnancy in the first trimester.

Digestion problems

If you have no appetite during pregnancy in the first trimester without any associated digestive problems, then this is very rare. The consequence of the above ailments is a decrease in appetite, and there is nothing surprising in this: who wants to eat if the food simply does not linger inside! Although everyone calls this morning sickness, in fact, it can appear at any time of the day. Everyone has a different body, and therefore the initial weeks of pregnancy for each woman can be different. It may also happen that nausea will disturb both in the afternoon and in the evening. It has been noted that this phenomenon occurs quite often in women who carry twins in the womb, and in those who are expecting their first child.

Hormonal changes

Hormonal changes that occur in the female body can cause nausea, vomiting and other ailments. In particular, the fault for the fact that in the early stages of pregnancy there is no appetite or it is, but bad, lies in the increased level of the hCG hormone. In addition, the appearance of nausea may be genetically determined. It often happens that the mother of a pregnant woman also went through a similar test, and the nausea was very painful and intense.

GIT

The gastrointestinal tract also affects the lack of appetite during pregnancy. It slows down its work due to water retention in the body and an increase in the levelprogesterone.

Stress

Experienced stress is also one of the reasons for lack of appetite during pregnancy. For example, a future mother is very worried about the he alth of an unborn baby, because the first trimester is often crucial for the further development of the fetus.

Second and third trimesters

It would seem that, along with the first trimester, toxicosis and problems with appetite should be left behind. But this is not always the case. It happens that there is no appetite during pregnancy in the second trimester, and in the third. Why is this happening:

1. Usually, the culprit is the same nausea, which continues all nine months or appears closer to childbirth. You can feel it at different times of the day. Often this is due to the fact that the woman is hungry or, conversely, she ate too much.
2. In the second trimester, the reason why the lack of appetite may be the appeared sensitivity to smells, which turns the expectant mother away from food.
3. If there is no appetite during pregnancy and nausea in the "solid", late pregnancy, the reason for this, as a rule, is that the growing uterus puts pressure on the stomach.
4. Anemia. It is found in every fifth pregnant woman. As a rule, anemia appears after the 20th week of pregnancy, when the fetus grows intensively, and he must receive everything he needs for normal growth, even if he receives all this from the mother's body. In a pregnant woman during this period, the volume of blood increases and appearsincreased need for iron, which is simply necessary for the construction of red blood cells. Therefore, it is not surprising that the reserves of this element are rapidly depleted. A slight iron deficiency does not manifest itself as any alarming signals. But when the number of red blood cells decreases, and with a clear lack of iron, the expectant mother will constantly feel tired, become drowsy, even a long sleep will not help her. There is also an increased heart rate and shortness of breath. Loss of appetite is also among the signs of this condition. If a blood test confirms an iron deficiency, it's time to take action. However, there is no reason to panic: with the right diet, combined with the necessary drugs, everything will fall into place. If your appetite has disappeared in the later weeks, it makes sense to look at the problem from this point of view.

It follows that if instead of a he althy appetite there is a problem with eating or nausea, this reaction of the body, in most cases, is normal. More than half of pregnant women face a similar problem.

What threatens the lack of appetite

The disappearing love for food leads to a paradox: instead of eating more than before conception, a woman eats less. She stands anxiously on the scales and observes that the arrow does not move forward, and, sometimes, on the contrary, moves back. However, the expectant mother should not be particularly concerned about the lack of appetite in the early stages of pregnancy. The baby in the womb in the first trimester is still so small that he needs to feedquite enough as much as his mother, the need for calories does not change at all. If her diet before pregnancy was balanced and reasonable, then it will suit the baby.

Approximately 300-400 kilocalories per day requires an increase in energy from food in subsequent trimesters. For the fetus, a short-term decrease or lack of appetite in the mother is not dangerous. The problem will arise when she ignores food for a long time. It should be remembered that a woman eats during pregnancy for two, and not for two. Therefore, even if she complains that there is no appetite during pregnancy, she is obliged to force herself to eat, despite the violent resistance of the body. There is always a way out, and it is to eat less, but much more often, about seven times a day, at regular intervals. You still need to eat and as fully as possible, because otherwise the child may experience a lack of nutrients, he may be born with a small body weight.

Fortunately, with the right approach, the problem of lack of good appetite in pregnant women in 90% of cases does not have any negative impact on the developing fetus. The only negative is the poor he alth of mommy, which will pass with time, in nine months - this is the most. And yet, if the desire to eat is completely absent for a sufficiently long time and does not go away after a few days, and all this is accompanied by vomiting, then this should be reported to the doctor as soon as possible.faster.

Indomitable Vomiting

There is also such a symptom during pregnancy as uncontrollable vomiting. On average, it happens once in a thousand pregnancies. It can be really dangerous for both the child and the expectant mother. If a woman vomits for a long time, she not only loses weight, but also many valuable minerals and water. Long-term vomiting leads to liver damage, dehydration and abortion. It may well happen that, eventually, hospitalization and procedures such as intravenous water, electrolytes and glucose will be needed.

If there is no appetite during pregnancy - what to do?

You can independently deal with any unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy, including nausea or lack of appetite. This does not mean that a woman can prescribe her own medicine, especially antiemetics, which can have a negative impact on the he alth of the child. Both vitamins and any other medicines must be prescribed by the leading doctor.

Problems with nausea and eating can be alleviated by changing eating habits and lifestyle. Here are some of the tips:

• It is better to reduce the portions themselves, but eat more often - nausea will decrease due to this
• It is worth refraining from heavy, hard to digest food, instead, you should be content with lighter dishes.
• The first snack (it can be crackers) is best eaten in bed (about 15 minutes beforeget out of bed).
• You need to drink as much liquid as possible (especially on hot days or after vomiting) to prevent dehydration. Choose cold drinks. Also, desserts from the refrigerator, such as jellies, sorbets, help to cope with nausea, and hot foods and liquids can aggravate it.
• Quick relief can come from sucking on a piece of lemon or ginger.
• It is worth trying to change your plan for the day: rest as much as possible, avoid stressful situations that can aggravate nausea. Many women tend to say that fresh air and walking helps too.

It is worth doing what the expectant mother has a soul for, because thereby positive thinking arises.