How to ease morning sickness

One of the very familiar experiences of early pregnancy is constantly feeling like you are recovering from a big night.

Whoever declared it to be specific to the morning was a tad off too, as you may already know, the queasiness can last all through the day.

You might have people telling you that it's a good thing you have morning sickness, because it means your baby is healthy and doing well. I certainly heard this a lot when I was pregnant.

The experience of nausea in the first trimester is caused by the rise in hormones that supports your pregnancy, it usually settles by 12 - 16 weeks.

Side note: If you are in your 1st trimester of pregnancy and not experiencing nausea, don't worry! It occurs in around 75% of women, consider yourself in the lucky 25%.

Thankfully there are several remedies that can help:

  • Get lots of rest. You are transitioning into a new phase in your life and your body is working miracles on a daily basis to support new life.
  • Be kind to yourself and begin to accept support from others. This will help you build your village of support for when your baby is born.
  • Eat snacks often and try to separate liquids from solid food ie: have a cracker and then a drink an hour later. Follow your intuition with selecting foods, even if you are eating the same things repeatedly, as long as some are healthy and easy-to-digest you should be covering your nutritional needs for now. If you need some suggestions bland is better: bananas, whole grain toast, peanut butter, rice, or hard cheese and crackers.
  • Drink lots to stay well hydrated and consider adding a dash of lemon juice into your water, the sour flavour can help. If you can't keep down fluids, ice blocks, melons and citrus fruits and veggies can be a good option.
  • Go for ginger. It's not just an old midwife's tale, ginger is well known to curb nausea. You can have it in lots of different forms too, just check they are made from real ginger: ginger tea, ginger ale, ginger candies, ginger biscuits or muffins, crystallized ginger or ginger drinks. Even just smelling fresh ginger can help, simply slice a piece open and inhale.
  • Inhale Peppermint oil or add mint to your smoothie.
  • Use acupressure bands (also used for travel sickness) as they can help to relieve nausea and vomiting, by putting gentle pressure on your P6 (or Nei-Kuan) acupressure point on your wrists.
  • Divert your attention towards something peaceful in your environment such as the bird song outside, the wind blowing through the trees or the hum of the fridge.
  • Breathe deeply. The Sitkari (soothing) breath can be really useful to help with pregnancy nausea. It adds moisture to your system, soothes your mind, balances your endocrine system and builds vitality. To practice this breath, simply inhale deeply through your mouth with your teeth closed, and then close your lips and exhale through your nose. This is great if you are pregnant in the summer and want to cool down.

If your morning sickness symptoms continue or are severe, go and see your doctor for extra support.

Know that this too shall pass, one day in the not too distant future you will be holding your baby in your arms and the queasiness will have all been worth it.

Big hugs mama!