Firstly, just why is it called morning sickness?! For some mums-to-be, it’s morning, noon and night sickness! Nausea in pregnancy varies enormously from person to person, with approximately 50% experiencing actual vomiting.
Motherhood is a roller coaster alright!
Although, the exact cause of morning sickness is not officially known, most experts agree it’s partly down to the hormone cocktail that is bombarding your body! It’s a sign your pregnancy hormones are high enough to allow your baby to develop and grow.
However, if you are NOT experiencing morning sickness- DO NOT WORRY! You might be one of the lucky 30% of mums-to- be who don’t experience any nausea!
It might seem like it’s never going to pass- but it does! Morning sickness usually starts around 5 weeks and ends between 12 - 14 weeks. It depends on which hormone is causing you the problem!
Other triggers
You can also feel more nausea if you are hungry, tired, stressed, or of course, if you are expecting more than one baby as the hormone levels will be higher!
Get help if you need it
Get help, if you are vomiting several times a day and can’t keep any food or drink down. If this is the case contact your GP or Midwife straightaway as severe vomiting can lead to dehydration, which might require hospital treatment.
What can you do to combat it?
Bring on the carbs! Eat little and often as getting too hungry can trigger the sickness. Try snacking on high zinc content snacks, like seeds or wholemeal bread or high -carbohydrate and high protein foods like, almonds, pretzels, granola cereals. Avoid greasy and fatty foods as these can make you feel worse.
Bring on the Zest! Fresh lemon has a natural calming effect and can help reduce the nausea. Try squeezing fresh lemon juice into some water and drinking it first thing in the morning. You can mix it with ginger and mint if you like too. If that doesn’t appeal you can just try smelling the lemon peel as it’s freshness can overcome the smells which sometimes trigger the nausea.
Get minted and pick up a peppermint! Peppermint helps to calm the stomach, try peppermint tea. If you want, you can make it fresh by using some peppermint leaves in boiling water, leaving them to infuse for about 10 minutes and then straining them, before drinking the tea. Just sucking on mints can help or put some drops of essential peppermint oil on a tissue and inhale.
Bring on the ginger! Ginger is considered by many as the most effective natural remedy to relieve nausea. It doesn’t really matter in what form you take it. Try it raw, as ginger ale, in a capsule or have a cup of ginger tea. (Try and avoid relying too heavily on ginger biscuits though, as they are not as healthy! ) Anyway, the choice is yours! It’s not for everyone though and some people might find it aggravates the nausea, rather than relieves it.
Everyday Roots has some lovely ginger tea and ginger ale recipes to try if you would like to.
Get cracking on the crackers! Crackers are easy on the stomach and can help stop the feeling of nausea. Maybe keep a small supply in your handbag so you can eat them whenever you want throughout the day.
Chomp on some crisps! Be careful not too over indulge, but it’s OK to eat crisps as the salt actually helps to dry up the saliva, which can help relieve the nausea if you are producing too much of it. Choose fat free varieties if you prefer.
Lastly, focus on the end result!
Have you any tips you can share? Not everything will work for everyone, keep going until you find the best remedy for you.
If all else fails take a deep breath!
Relaxing and keeping calm, listening to your body and taking it easy, can also go a long way to relieving your nausea.
Suffering from morning sickness? We’ve rounded up some remedies to help combat nausea in pregnancy
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