揭開妊娠噁心、嘔吐的迷思

Unraveling the Myths About Nausea and Vomiting During Pregnancy

噁心、嘔吐是妊娠初期最常見的不適症，也是困擾諸多孕婦的來源。雖然近來的研究已顯示，噁心、嘔吐對孕婦而言，並非純然的生理反應，更蘊藏了心理、社會、文化等機制在內，是一個複雜多元的懷孕現象；然而，這個現象對孕婦的影響卻往往被輕估。長期不受重視的結果，非但影響我們對此症實際的瞭解，更產生了許多似是而非的說法，這些說法雖缺乏實證或研究的基礎，卻廣為流傳，日積月累，竟匯聚成種種迷思，深切的影響了醫護人員、孕婦本身及其家庭，致使廣大發生症狀的孕婦得不到適當的照護。基於此，本文彙整了這些常見的迷思，以研究數據及理論依據作為基礎，進一步討論、釐清這些似是而非的觀念，以增進對妊娠噁心、嘔吐問題的正確認識，並作為護理人員在照顧孕吐婦女及其家庭時之參考。

Nausea and vomiting are the most uncomfortable symptoms of early pregnancy. They also affect many pregnant women. Recent research has shown that nausea and vomiting are not simply pathological issues; they also reflect psychosocial and cultural factors. These are complex and diverse phenomena, but their influences on pregnant women are often underestimated. The long-term disregard of these phenomena has not only affected our actual understanding of them, but also given rise to many misconceptions. With some of these misconceptions there is no proof. With others, there has not even been any scientific research, and yet they have become prevalent, fusing together with the passage of time to become a sort of mythology. This has profoundly affected care provision, the pregnant women themselves and also their families. It also explains why so many pregnant women with the symptoms cannot receive proper care. On that basis, this article categorizes these common myths, having established their numbers by means of research, and uses a theoretical basis as the foundation from which to further discuss and clarify them, in order to promote an accurate understanding of the problems of nausea and vomiting as they affect pregnant women, to assist nurses caring for such women and their families.