Brownish Vomiting During Pregnancy – Reasons & Remedies

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My sister’s pregnancy was progressing smoothly until recently. She started noticing a discolored vomit – blackish-brown in color. This is unlike the thick, foamy, clear vomit she occasionally had.

Any black, blood-stained, or brownish vomiting during pregnancy could be weird and alarming to any woman. While it’s not a good sign, don’t panic yet. The discoloration could be due to various reasons.

In the article, let’s discuss what causes brownish vomiting and what you can do about it. Read on.

Brownish Vomiting During Pregnancy

Brownish Vomiting During Pregnancy, What Does It Mean?

Brown or discolored vomit during pregnancy may be a sign of internal bleeding. Medically known as coffee ground vomitus (or emesis), vomit resembles the brown color of dry, grounded coffee seeds.

The bleeding often occurs in your gastrointestinal tract, stomach, or esophagus. Brown color means blood has coagulated or overstayed before coming out in your vomit.

Vomiting and nausea are common symptoms within the first trimester due to increased HCG hormones, low blood sugar, and stress/fatigue. But, when you notice bloody or discolored vomit, it should cause worry.

The condition gradually improves as you progress into the second trimester (from around nine-fourteen weeks). Unfortunately, morning sickness may occur in some women up to the third trimester.

Sometimes, morning sickness may rise to extreme levels, developing hyperemesis gravidarum. When undergoing this unusual morning sickness, you’re likely to vomit 4-5 times a day, straining the esophagus lining and leading to bleeding.

Are you wondering why the bleeding appears brown while vomiting? Don’t worry. Vomiting blood alone or mixed with food is scientifically referred to as hematemesis. In this case, you’ll notice the fresh, bright-dark red color on your vomit.

On the other hand, coffee ground vomitus is one type of hematemesis characterized by partly digested, dry, coagulated, brown/black blood. The brownish color could also be due to a reaction between hemoglobin and natural stomach acids.

The bleeding may have stopped for coffee ground vomitus, but the cause could be active. This explains why you should report to your doctor for a proper examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

While you may not feel pain, vomiting brown while pregnant could be a pointer to underlying severe health issues. The good news is that vomiting without other additional symptoms may not affect your baby’s development.

What Causes Brown Vomit During Pregnancy?

As you get used to occasional vomiting resulting from morning sickness, something weird happens and makes you panic. You’ve been puking dark-brown vomit lately!

Below is a rough guide to possible causes of brown colour vomiting during pregnancy:

  1. Bleeding gastric ulcers – Gastritis is a common symptom caused by inflammation of the inner stomach lining. The condition worsens during pregnancy due to the bacteria helicobacter pylori.

These ulcers could damage your delicate stomach arteries, causing bleeding from any slightest trigger. The blood may dry and cause a brownish coloration in your vomit.

  1. Inflammation of the upper gastrointestinal tract – The upper GI tract includes your esophagus, stomach, and duodenum (part of the small intestine). Throwing up frequently irritates the esophageal lining and causes inflammation/ bleeding in your stomach/duodenum. This especially happens when experiencing extreme morning sickness, which involves vomiting over 4-5 times daily.
  2. Swollen veins – Sometimes, the veins in the lower part of your esophagus may swell, leading to internal bleeding.
  3. Tear or rupture of the esophagus – When the tube connecting your mouth, throat, and stomach (esophagus) develops a tear, severe bleeding may occur. Esophageal tears come as a result of too much pressure on the esophagus.

High blood pressure, hernia, severe coughing, and excessive vomiting are other possible causes of esophageal tears. Depending on the degree of rupture/tear, bleeding may vary from bright red to dark brown.

  1. Cancer – Stomach/ esophagus or pancreas cancer is another likely cause of internal bleeding during pregnancy. Though relatively rare, internal bleeding is a severe symptom of these cancers.
  2. Nose bleeding – During pregnancy, there’s increased blood flow to most body parts, including your nose. This makes the nose vessels swell, making the chances of nose bleeding high.

Depending on your position, sometimes blood may flow back to your throat and come as vomit. If it overstays in the throat or stomach, the color is likely dark red or brown.

  1. Bleeding gums – Also known as pregnancy gingivitis, bleeding gums are not uncommon in expectant mothers. Therefore, you may notice fresh red blood or brown streaks mixed with food when vomiting.
  2. Severe gastro-esophageal disease (GERD) –According to the University of Chicago Medicine, nine out of 10 pregnant patients develop symptoms of GERD by the third trimester. With heartburn being the most common sign of severe gastro-esophageal disease, acid leaks into the esophagus from your stomach, causing irritation and bleeding.

Possible causes, as summarized above, will give you a clearer picture if you notice dark brown vomit during pregnancy. However, it’s not a guide to self-diagnosis for the condition. Despite the colour of blood, be sure to notify a general practitioner in time as a safety precaution.

Brownish Vomiting During Pregnancy

Treatment For Brownish Vomiting During Pregnancy

Management of coffee ground vomitus depends on the severity and frequency of vomiting. On visiting your doctor, they may perform an ultrasound, blood test, or oxygen reading to verify the cause.

After finding the culprit, you may get medication or have an upper endoscopy /special surgery to stop the bleeding.

If the cause of internal bleeding isn’t affirmed, a professional radiologist may do a bleeding scan before using a tiny catheter to trace and block the bleeding vessel/vein.

Home remedies for bloody vomiting are as follows:

1. Hydrate – Vomiting and diarrhea may leave you with acute dehydration, which isn’t good in pregnancy. Drink lots of fluids, such as fresh fruit juice or electrolyte/plain water, to enhance proper hydration.

2. Evaluate your diet – Consider tweaking your diet to include more minerals and nutrients. Since low blood sugar may worsen nausea, snacking on a healthy snack/treat would help.

3. Do not overeat. Reduce fatty foods – Reduce oily foods as they make you nauseous and prone to vomiting. Boiling your meals is a healthier option. Eating large portions of food may cause indigestion.

4. Saline water – This is helpful when recovering from body water loss. In cases of recurrent vomiting, your doctor may recommend oral rehydration options with electrolytes for a quick recovery.

5. Rest all you can – Nausea and vomiting could interfere with your normal functioning, leading to stress and anxiety.

Take time to relax and have fun. Taking naps is also beneficial. Remember, your body needs ample time to heal, and the growing fetus, a stress-free environment for healthy development.

How Can You Prevent Vomiting Blood During Pregnancy?

Nausea and vomiting may not be preventable. However, you can use a few tips to prevent them from becoming severe, leading to red or brownish bloody vomit.

Such practical measures include:

1. Use ginger – A study by Sage Journals confirmed the effectiveness of ginger in alleviating nausea and vomiting among pregnant women who took 250 milligrams of ginger four times daily. 

Add it to your food, tea, water, and fresh juice. Point of caution: take this spice in moderation to prevent further esophageal irritation.

2. Take lots of fresh cranberry or raspberry juices – The fruits are potent antioxidants effective in reducing nausea in pregnant women and promoting a healthy digestive tract.

3. Peppermint – Use this ingredient for its numbing effect, which helps in relaxing stomach muscles and enhancing proper digestion. Further, peppermint assists the bile in breaking down fats that are notorious for intensifying nausea and vomiting.

4. Watch your hygiene – This greatly helps in keeping infections at bay. Also, wash your hands after touching contaminated places, visiting the washroom, cleaning dirty laundry, and handling pets.

5. Ensure you only eat fully-cooked food – Eating raw foods and undercooked meats may cause nausea/vomiting due to food poisoning. This condition gets worse during pregnancy.

6. Keep off spicy foods – Consuming high spice levels may not be safe for your stomach due to irritation. Instead, take foods that reduce or prevent acid reflux, including whole grains, sweet potatoes, carrots, and green vegetables. Chicken and other lean, low-fat protein sources are excellent in curbing pregnancy nausea and vomiting.

7. Do not induce vomiting – Forcing yourself to throw up may put pressure on the esophagus, leading to internal bleeding.

The measures mentioned above have proved effective in preventing nausea and vomiting. However, every woman is unique. What works for one may fail for another. 

Further, natural herbs may irritate if misused. So, seek advice from your doctor before using any.

Wrapping Up

Using a few points, let’s summarize brownish vomiting during pregnancy.

Vomiting/ nausea (morning sickness) is normal and not harmful to your baby. But a blood-stained, reddish-dark brown vomit isn’t okay.

Coffee ground emesis is vomit with brown color. It means internal bleeding occurred in your stomach, esophagus, or duodenum, and blood dried up due to coagulation.

Internal bleeding occurs due to stomach ulcers, esophagus tear/rupture, and esophageal lining inflammation.

Drink fluids, rest, or avoid overeating to reduce nausea and vomiting. Also, visit your doctor for diagnosis and the development of an appropriate treatment plan.

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