5 Tips for Morning Sickness Relief

Morning sickness is the layman’s term for nausea and vomiting of pregnant women. This usually occurs when a woman is in her 6th week of pregnancy. For some, the longer time stretches out, the less disturbing morning sickness is. On the other hand, there are people who experience it until the 18th week.

While morning sickness is called as such, it does not just come during the morning. In fact, it occurs all throughout the day or at particular points of the day. Sometimes nausea can get so bad that you reach the point of vomiting.

You do not have to worry because this is normal. However, severe vomiting can occur as well. This is called hyperemesis gravidarum, or excessive vomiting. When it reaches this point, you can suffer from a drop in weight, dehydration, and low blood potassium.

If ever this occurs to you, it would be best to consult with a doctor. There might be medicine or treatment that can help ease your condition.

What Causes Morning Sickness?

In spite of the advancements in the medical field, there has been no proven cause for feeling nauseous during pregnancy. Theories for nausea and vomiting have sprung up claiming that it is caused by changes in hormonal levels and physique.

Hormones like estrogen and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) are the two most notable hormones that rise during pregnancy. Higher production of these can result in nausea, but this remains to be proven.

How to Relieve Morning Sickness

Although morning sickness is common enough not to have any remedies, different remedies are effective to different people. The five tips listed here are just some of the many possible solutions to deal with morning sickness. The list is not exhaustive so you are still free to try and consult other people about other remedies.

Rest

Being pregnant is stressful. Not only is the body trying to cope and adjust to another human being inside it, the woman carrying the baby experiences stress as well. During pregnancy, there is heightened sensitivity to the body and to a lot of external factors and this increases stress.

Stress can lead to headaches and eventually, nausea. There is no scientific connection yet, but the point is that lack of rest can reinforce morning sickness. Get at least 8 hours of sleep for a fully refreshed body.

Not only does rest equate to sleep, but it also includes the pace at which you get up and go to bed. As much as possible, do not set an alarm. This is so you could naturally wake up. When you set an alarm, chances are that your body jerks awake even if you do not get out of bed immediately.

Ideally, you should allow yourself to get out of bed at your own pace. Do not rush doing so. If you wake up because of hunger, make sure that there are crackers at your bedside table.

Moreover, even if resting and napping are beneficial, it would be counter-productive if you do so after you eat. This only makes you feel more nauseous.

Drink Controlled Amounts of Water

Similar to not stuffing yourself with food right away, drinking water should be taken slowly and not chugging a whole glass. Water (and fluids) has always been the answer to many sicknesses and morning sickness is no different.

Keeping yourself hydrated will do a lot of good for your body especially when you are already vomiting. Lack of water can only lead to dehydration and couple this with vomiting and your physical state will not be very good.

Make sure to drink at least 8 glasses of water daily and if it helps, drink cold water.

Have a High-carbohydrate and High-protein Diet

Carbohydrates are known to help ease morning sickness. From crackers to bread, carbohydrates can give you the energy you need to last the day especially when you are feeling nauseous. Also, carbohydrates are kind to your digestive system so your stomach will not struggle as much digesting the food you take.

If you eat spicy, sour, or fiber-rich food, then your stomach will struggle and this can cause nausea or vomiting. Add to the list of the food you should be avoiding is fried food or anything that is high in fat.

On the other hand, protein-rich foods are healthy not only to you but also to your child. Protein has amino acids and these are the building blocks of cells. Examples of high-protein foods are lean meat, chicken, dairy products, yogurt, and fish.

But in spite of having a healthy diet, you should take these foods frequently and in small amounts. This is to ensure that your stomach does not have to overwork itself. Have light meals on equal parts of the day.

Eat/Drink Ginger

Ginger is famous for easing different feelings of uneasiness. It helps alleviate nausea and vomiting. The good thing about ginger is that it is versatile. You can drink it in the form of tea or ginger brew, or you can incorporate it as the main ingredient of the food you will eat. You can drink it with hot water and cold water too. Either way, its benefits will stay the same.

For food, you can make gingersnap cookies or candies so that it is easier for them to be eaten. This is because of the obvious powerful taste of ginger and eating it by itself might make it more uneasy for you. You can grate it also and add to your meals.

Drink/sniff Lemons

Lemon water is starting to get more and more popular these days. It is used for weight loss and cleansing of the stomach and other organs. Also, it is relatively easier to take in lemon if you are drinking it with cold water.

It would be less difficult for your stomach to digest too. However, an added feature of lemons is that it can help soothe morning sickness in many forms and not just through being a drink.

You can take in lemons (or at least its nutrients and healing effects) by sniffing them, too. I know it sounds crazy, but the scent of lemon helps the body stay relaxed and it just eases nausea.