Sickness is in the mind

Constant nausea and frequent vomiting make early pregnancy a misery for thousands of women.

Now scientists have added insult to injury for mothers-to-be suffering from morning sickness - by claiming it is mostly in the mind.

Researchers studying the debilitating condition say the vast majority of women aren't nearly as ill as they think.

And they claim doctors are making matters worse by assuming the problem is physical, when it is often psychological.

The findings follow a study of 500 women seeking medical help for morning sickness.

The mothers-to-be were asked how serious they considered their symptoms to be, and to provide details about the frequency and duration of their nausea.

Forty five per cent described their condition as "severe" and a further 45 per cent classified symptoms as "moderate". The rest rated their problem "mild".

The research team found that the correlation between how sick the women thought they were and their actual symptoms was "very weak".

Most of the women suffered only infrequent bouts of vomiting and nausea - rating themselves-far more ill than their physical symptoms suggested.

Using complex graphs and analysis, the scientists, from the University of Toronto in Canada, worked out that just 14 per cent of the women's misery could be attributed to physical symptoms - suggesting that 86 per cent of it was in the mind.

Study authors Dr Kiran Chandra and Laura Magee conclude: "Nausea and vomiting or retching correlate very poorly with self-assessment of severity. Women will tend to perceive symptom severity according to how they are feeling overall and how other aspects of their life are affected."

The researchers say doctors are devoting too much effort to tackling the physical symptoms of morning sickness. They describe it as a "multi-faceted condition" which can be aggravated by a whole range of factors.

The claims will surprise thousands of pregnant women forced to take to their beds. The condition affects up to 80 per cent of those in the first seven to 12 weeks of gestation, with nine per cent continuing to suffer for as long as 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The most serious form of morning sickness is hyperemesis, a condition which can lead to severe weight loss and dehydration.

Belinda Phipps, of the National Childbirth Trust, said: "I am surprised the research team thinks so much of morning sickness is in the mind. Women suffering from hyperemesis will be severely miffed if people think their illness is psychological. To the women who have it, morning sickness is very real."