A Study on the Cause of Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy in Relation to Fetal Development

Objectives : Morning Sickness, or Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy(NVP) is a frequently experienced phenomenon among pregnant women whose cause is still unknown. While the key trait of this symptom is its temporality, it is hardly considered in existing studies on the cause of NVP based on Korean Medical(KM) literature. We hope to remedy this. Methods : We looked for contents on fetal development in Korean Medical literature from the Siku Quanshu as well as other key literature of KM and examined the results together with contents on NVP to find any correlation. Results : We found that the beginning stages, namely the third month marked a significant change in the course of fetal development where the fetus's own Shen(神) is first developed by work of the mother's Heart(心). In other words, the third month is when the mother's and child's Shen first encounter. Conclusions : We hypothesized that NVP whose symptoms are closely linked to the functions of the Heart, is likely to be related to this event, which was supported by the common involvement of the Heart which was involved in both fetal development and NVP during the third month of pregnancy.

태아(胎兒)의 발달과정(發達過程)에서 찾아본 악조(惡阻)의 원인(原因)에 대한 고찰(考察)