88 percent of pregnant women are plagued by it... nausea and vomiting are the primary symptoms... from its name, you'd probably guess that it only occurs at a certain time of day...

What am I talking about? That's right. As you probably guessed (yes, I gave it away in the title), I'm talking about morning sickness.

The funny thing about morning sickness is that for most women, the nausea and vomiting don't occur exclusively in the morning. That's just the time of the day when these symptoms seem to be the worst for the majority of pregnant women.

Starting anywhere from a woman's first four to six weeks of pregnancy, the nausea and vomiting can start. At first, it might be so mild that a pregnant woman may think she ate something bad the previous night. But when it occurs day after day, most women either take a pregnancy test or visit their doctor to find out what's ailing them.

There is a silver lining for approximately three quarters of expectant mothers: these symptoms only seem to last through their first trimester. Almost half feel completely symptom-free by 14 weeks. Isn't that great news?

You probably want to punch me right now with that last question, but it is good news that the majority have do see a light at the end of the misery tunnel. For a smaller percentage, the tunnel seems never ending because they continue on with morning sickness well beyond the first trimester.

This statistically small population of women can have morning sickness that's so severe they loose weight and suffer symptoms of dehydration. This condition is called hyperemesis gravidarum, also known as severe morning sickness. It affects one in three hundred pregnancies.

Technically, a doctor makes a diagnosis of hyperemesis gravidarum when a woman loses more than five percent of her body weight and shows signs of dehydration. Both are attributed to a pregnant woman not being able to keep enough food and water down because they are throwing up constantly throughout the day.

This is a condition that must be treated by a doctor as soon as possible. The extreme weight loss and dehydration are not good for the pregnant woman or her unborn child. Often times, fluids and nutrition are given to the woman intravenously so the baby gets what it needs to grow healthily.

What is the cause of morning sickness? The only thing anyone knows for sure is that it is caused by pregnancy. I know, it's probably not the answer you were looking for, but it's the only concrete piece I can give you.

There are plenty of theories of why women suffer it like if she is expecting a girl, no nausea or experienced during the time she took birth control, if she is expecting twins (or more), it's due to the helicobacter pylori bacterium, and of course, a change in a woman's hormone levels.

It would be nice to nail down the exact cause, but even if we can't, there are ways to cope with the symptoms. There are treatments that would seem more conventional to most, like medication prescribed by a doctor. There are also treatments that seem very unconventional to most, like acupuncture, acupressure, and herbal remedies.

We don't know what causes it. We can't even say for sure when it will start or how long it will last. What we do know is that there are treatments that can help women through morning sickness. The best way to figuring out what can help is by trying every possible treatment until something works.