A week by week guide to what’s happening to you and your baby

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOU

Feeling ill? Does the smell of coffee/toast/chicken soup make you want to throw up? Morning sickness. Nausea affects one third to half of pregnant women and usually abates by the start of the second trimester. It may be caused by a higher level of oestrogen, as well as the rapid expansion of the uterus. There is some good news: studies show that morning sickness may be related to a slightly lower risk of miscarriage. The bad news: well, although it is called morning sickness it is rarely restricted to the hours before noon - afternoon, evening and middle-of-the-night sickness might be a better name. If you are one of those that have no nausea at all you are also normal, and lucky.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOUR BABY

Your baby's length will have doubled from four millimetres at the beginning of this week to eight millimetres by the end. The placenta is rapidly developing, however, it will not take over hormone production until about week 12.

The baby's heart is now beating and blood circulation is evident. The kidneys and liver are growing fast, and the neural tube, which connects the brain to the spinal cord, closes.

HEALTHY EATING

Still feeling sick? Here are some tips that might help:

• Before bedtime, eat a protein snack containing some natural starch or sugars.
• When you wake up, nibble on a cracker before getting out of bed and wait 20 minutes before rising.
• For breakfast, limit fats and have fruit or juices at the end of the meal.
• Ginger has been found to be effective in treating nausea: try chewing on natural gingersnaps (made with real ginger), candied ginger, drink some ginger ‘beer’ (non-alcoholic) or tea, or take it in capsule form.
• You can also take 50mg of vitamin B6 twice a day, but never exceed 200mg in one day. Or you may try yoghurt, which is a natural way to load up on B6.
• In some cases, eating a high-carbohydrate diet seems to help alleviate nausea.
• A high-protein diet, which includes soya, milk, cheese and fish, may also help.
• Most important, eat frequent small meals and always keep an emergency snack of a banana or crackers around.

Stress can make morning sickness worse, as well as increase fatigue, indigestion and the chance of developing back and neck pain and headaches. So relax and get more sleep. Now is an excellent time to sign up for prenatal yoga classes, but check with your doctor or midwife first. If nothing else, go to bed an hour earlier than usual. Your body needs all the help it can get as it works to create a new life.

Find out what's happening when you get to week 7 of your pregnancy.

For a list of all the pregnancy week by week articles click here