Wondering what helps with morning sickness?
Morning sickness is a nausea or feeling that you want to vomit that occurs during pregnancy. So why does morning sickness happen? Why do pregnant women get morning sickness? Research suggests that nausea and vomiting during pregnancy might be due to the effects of this HCG hormone produced by the placenta. Although the exact cause of morning sickness is unknown, it’s associated with your hormonal changes that occurred during pregnancy.
So how can you prevent morning sickness? The only way to get rid of pregnancy nausea is to give it some time. You might find some relief with some of these home remedies for morning sickness. So First off, some dietary and lifestyle interventions may help reduce or prevent your morning sickness. Some strategies that a woman may wish to try include:
– Drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day, sucking on some ice chips or cubes
– Not drinking and eating at the same time
– Taking a multivitamin dietary supplement and taking your prenatal vitamin with a meal
– Eat foods that are low in fat and easy to digest
– Aim to eat five to six small meals throughout the day rather than three large ones
– Keeping some plain crackers or dry bread beside your bedside and eating them before you get up in the morning
Nausea is most likely to strike when your stomach is empty, like first thing in the morning after night’s sleep. During my morning sickness, my mother in law gave me dry Italian bread and I found that not letting myself get super hungry was helpful eating bland foods or trying the BRAT diet. The BRAT diet consists of banana, rice, apples and toast and having as well some tea.
Avoiding unpleasant odors is another trigger for nausea. I love garlic generally, however when I was pregnant I could not stand the smell of it and I remember my brother making garlic bread in the evening and as a result me getting to know the porcelain bowl in his bathroom really well.
Trying foods or drinks that contain real ginger such as ginger, candies that are sugar free, hopefully ginger tea and a ginger tonic drink. Ginger is wonderful for nausea and it’s safe and effective. Brush your teeth after every meal. A fresh tasting mouth may prevent queasiness and decreases the risk of damaging your teeth from the acid that that occurs when you vomit.
There are also several pregnancy nausea treatments you can discuss with your doctor, for instance switching your prenatal vitamin – a pill with more B6 and less iron may be right for you. My little pink prenatal pill that was prescribed by my doctor actually made me constipated during my pregnancy. I ended up finding a liquid iron supplement derived from plants that was helpful.
Complementary medical approaches such as acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, and even hypnosis are worth trying if nothing else works. There are also some approved prescription drugs that are safe and effective for treating nausea. I’ll discuss more about that in another article. However, I was able to go through without prescription drugs, but that was my own personal choice. I hope you found these tips helpful and are able to keep your nausea at bay.
