Morning sickness or nausea and vomiting during pregnancy occurs in about 75% of pregnant women. For most women, morning sickness is at its worst during the first trimester or during the first twelve weeks of the pregnancy. It usually lets up into the second trimester. Morning sickness is caused by the hormones produced by the placenta during pregnancy. While morning sickness is most likely to occur in the morning, it can actually occur anytime during the day and may be triggered by certain smells. However, there are some natural remedies you can use to help ease your morning sickness.
If your morning sickness is severe or is accompanied by any other symptom such as chills/fever or disorientation, you need to check in with your care provider.
1) Keep eating
Many pregnant women with morning sickness will stop eating thinking this will ease their nausea and vomiting. In actuality, this is the worst thing you can do. Not only will you not be taking in enough calories to support your pregnancy, but you’ll actually make your morning sickness worse by having an empty stomach. Eat comfort foods that you would eat if you had the flu such as dry toast, saltines, rice and applesauce.
2) Remember to drink
To keep from becoming dehydrated, remember to keep drinking fluids. It may help your morning sickness not to eat and drink at the same time.
3) Switch prenatal vitamins
Some pregnant women’s prenatal vitamins will upset their stomach and exacerbate any morning sickness. Talk to your care provider about switching your prenatal vitamin if you feel this is triggering your morning sickness.
4) Try peppermint flavored products
Peppermint gum or tea may be a great natural remedy for your morning sickness. You can also try inhaling peppermint essential oil (never rub pure essential oil on your skin) or put crushed mint leaves into a plastic baggy and inhale those when you feel sick.
5) Ginger products
Ginger has long been used as a soother for an upset stomach. Ginger tea or candied ginger may ease your morning sickness. However, ginger ale will not be helpful. Most ginger ales actually do not contain enough ginger to be an effective way of beating the nausea from morning sickness.
6) Acupressure bands
Acupressure bands worn the wrist may be a great natural remedy for your morning sickness. Acupressure bands press on acupressure points that help with nausea and vomitting. You should be able to buy one for a few dollars at a pharmacy. Check with your care provider to see what their opinion is about acupressure bands.
7) Move slowly
Get up slowly and lay down carefully. Some pregnant women find sudden movements, especially after laying down for a while, will trigger morning sickness. Moving slowly may help prevent a bout of morning sickness when you wake up in the morning.
8) Watch your smells
If there are certain smells that trigger your morning sickness try to avoid them. If you have a co-worker whose perfume triggers your nausea, politely ask her to stop wearing it. Avoid restaurants and other places that may be a trigger for your morning sickness.
9) Sniff lemons
Some women find sniffing cut-up lemons alleviates morning sickness. Try carrying some around in a baggy. If this helps you, you may find that carbonated lemon/lime beverages may help with your morning sickness.
10) Eat potato chips
This remedy is odd, but anecdotally, it seems to help pregnant women with morning sickness. Eating potato chipps may work because of the combination of salt and grease. Since potato chips are not healthy, consider using this natural remedy for your moring sickness as a last resort or eat sparingly.
