What is the PUQE score?

The PUQE Score stands for Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis/Nausea Index. It was published first in the AJOG journal in 2002 and the main author was Dr. Koren. In 30 seconds, you can find out the severity of your nausea and vomiting by answering 3 simple questions.

Nausea and vomiting are normal to a certain extent. But when do you know it's too much and when do you know you need to see a doctor?

Nausea and pregnancy

Being nauseous is usually an early sign of pregnancy. However, nausea as a sign and symptom of pregnancy rarely appears before you miss your period and before you have a positive pregnancy test. If you are nauseous before you miss your period then you could be pregnant because nausea is among the typical pregnancy symptoms.

Nausea usually occurs because of an increase in the pregnancy hormone hCG, human chorionic gonadotropin. However, by the time your nausea appears as a sign of pregnancy, you would expect to have a positive pregnancy test.

Only a positive pregnancy test will tell you whether you are pregnant or not. As you might already know, nausea is one sign of pregnancy but it's not among the earliest signs. The earliest signs of pregnancy are a missed period and a positive pregnancy test. Nausea as a typical pregnancy symptom rarely, if ever, happens until after you miss your period, 2-4 weeks after ovulation and fertilization. 

Nausea may be a good thing

Researchers at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill have found a link between nausea and vomiting and a decreased risk of spontaneous abortion. According to the research, pregnant women who suffered from nausea and vomiting were less likely to suffer from spontaneous abortion. Unlike previous studies that showed a correlation between nausea, vomiting and spontaneous abortion, researchers involved with this study investigated the duration of symptoms and the effect of duration on spontaneous abortion.

Information was collected from 2,407 participants in three United States cities between the years 2000 and 2004. Interviews, medical records, and ultrasound images/reports were used to extract data. After collecting data and grouping participants based on length of time nausea and vomiting was experienced, researchers found a strong connection between how long symptoms were reported and viability of a pregnancy.

According to data results, women who suffered from nausea and vomiting for at least half the pregnancies were less likely to spontaneously abort. The higher the maternal age, the stronger the connection. This means, older women who experience no nausea and vomiting during early pregnancy are in the highest risk group for spontaneous abortion. The risk steadily declined the longer women noted feeling these symptoms.

It is important to note that every pregnancy is different. Just because data concluded a link between nausea and vomiting and viability of pregnancy does not mean every woman will feel these symptoms while pregnant. Some women feel perfectly fine for the entire pregnancy without a single day of nausea and vomiting and still give birth to a healthy fetus.

Source: Ronna L Chan, Andrew F Olshan, David A Savitz, Amy H Herring, Julie L Daniels, Herbert B Peterson, Sandra L Martin. Human Reproduction. 27 August 2010.