So you thought you were done with feeling nauseous and throwing up. Well you should have been over the worst of pregnancy nausea by week 14, but sometimes if you’re unlucky, it settles in or it just comes back on round.

If you are experiencing nausea late pregnancy (third trimester), look at it as a way of remaining within the limits of acceptable pregnancy weight gain, or curse and swear if you think it might help!

About 20% of women will experience NVP (its official name is “nausea and vomiting of pregnancy”) beyond their 20th week. The causes of NVP remain a mystery, but here are some possible explanations for the occurrence of nausea, late pregnancy, rather than during the first trimester:

• changes in pregnancy hormones
• further stretching of the uterine muscles
• a protective mechanism for mother and baby reducing the chance of toxin intake
• less efficient emptying of the stomach increasing stomach acids
• psychological stress related to the pregnancy
• genetic predisposition
• bigger baby encroaching on your other organs and stomach

Then again, you might just want to check your latest scan – if you are having multiples, you are more likely to experience nausea late pregnancy as a result of the increased amount of estrogen in your body. If you are susceptible to motion sickness, felt nauseous when on the Pill (estrogen again), or suffer from migraines, your chances of experiencing nausea late pregnancy as well as in the first three months are higher.

It’s important however to check with your doctor that you are experiencing nausea late in pregnancy rather than the results of an underlying virus or infection. A rare condition affecting less than 1% of pregnant women is hyperemesis gravidarum which is excessive vomiting in pregnancy.

If everything is checked out and normal, relieve nausea by eating frequent small meals and finding a comfortable position which reduces the weight on your stomach. Whatever worked for your morning sickness earlier in your pregnancy will work for your nausea late pregnancy too.

Take some time to think about whether there are any issues causing you undue stress. Relieving them may greatly improve your nausea in late pregnancy and allow you to comfortably reach term.