Morning Sickness

Only 14% of women actually get morning sickness exclusively in the morning, so really it should just be called nausea in pregnancy. However, when you look at the reasons people get nausea in pregnancy, suddenly it makes a little more sense:

Blood sugar regulation has a huge part to play in morning sickness. When your blood sugar drops, you feel sick. Similarly to those that are pre-diabetic or diabetic when they enter a hypoglycaemic state. Since when you sleep, you are fasting, this is likely to be the longest period in a 24hour day that you don’t eat. Hence, when you wake up, your blood sugar will be at its lowest, and you will feel (the most) nauseous.

So what can you do about it? - balance your blood sugar! This means eating small amounts VERY regularly (EVEN if you are not hungry, eat pre-emptively), particularly just before going to bed, and having nearby food to eat immediately when you wake up. A good thing to try would be plain crackers such as ones made from quinoa or buckwheat (Amisa do some great ones). These will help stabilise your blood sugar but also are plain tasting so easier to stomach if you’re feeling sick. Try and eat protein with each meal, and opt for unrefined carbs (like quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice) as opposed to white carbs as these will keep you satiated (full) for longer and hence stabilise your blood sugar better. Fibre too, basically all the usual advice to stabilise blood sugar applies here!

What else? Stay hydrated - dehydration is a causative factor in morning sickness. Drink water - plus you need so much more hydration to replace the amniotic fluid (which gets replaced every 3 hours)! Soups/broths are also a great way to keep you hydrated, stabilise blood sugar (giving you all those electrolytes) and are usually easier to tolerate.

If you’re taking any supplements make sure to take them with food to avoid any nausea related to them. B6 supplements can be helpful in treating morning sickness, but as always (and especially in pregnancy) get proper advice before supplementing.

Ginger has been shown to be effective at helping decrease morning sickness. Try sipping ginger tea in small amounts.

Lastly, as already written about acupressure on the acupuncture point Pericardium 6 (see above for two to find it) has been shown to be effective. You can get motion sickness bands from the pharmacy and place the bead onto this point and wear them during pregnancy. Acupuncture is also safe and effective during pregnancy and can be hugely beneficial for morning sickness.

The good news is that morning sickness for the majority of women does ware off after week 13 so just keep going!