Persistent nausea and food aversions in pregnancy. A possible association with cow's milk allergy in infants.

In a retrospective study the mothers of twenty-one children with well-defined cow's milk allergy and an equal number of matched controls were asked about their health and diet in pregnancy and the pattern of feeding of their children in infancy. Corroborative evidence was obtained from the medical notes. Nausea in pregnancy was found to be more persistent and atopic disease more common among the mothers of the milk allergic children; in this group food aversions during pregnancy were also more common particularly to dairy produce. The milk-allergic infants had been breast-fed for longer and had cow's milk introduced into feeds later than the control group. It is suggested that nausea in pregnancy may be a physiological response to foetal sensitization by dietary antigens such as cow's milk protein, due to impaired placental permeability in atopic pregnant women. A larger prospective study is indicated to substantiate this hypothesis.