Pregnancy Nausea? Try These 11 Things NOW!
Let me start by saying I am not perfect, nor am I a doctor. I do NOT have all the answers. Your situation may differ from mine but so far I have birthed two healthy babies, one boy and one girl and with each, I experienced morning sickness symptoms. I once took an iron supplement on an empty stomach and noted to never do that again! But other than that, I made it through the first trimester and was able to manage the waves of nausea well.
Again, I’m not perfect and everyone’s situation is different but along the way, I’ve learned some tips to help manage pregnancy nausea and I was EVEN better off during my second pregnancy, on top of the nausea being stronger for that pregnancy.
By equipping yourself with some techniques and home remedies for nausea during pregnancy you can feel more confident going into that first trimester and with a list of tips, you can hop from trying one thing to the next to see what works best for you.
Morning Sickness symptoms can range from slight nausea, to fully letting go of your cookies (throwing up) multiple times a day and even feeling grossed out by any slight smell. This can lead to what feels like a debilitating first trimester for many moms.
In this post, you’ll learn 11 home remedies for nausea during pregnancy including supplements to help get your pregnancy nausea and vomiting under control, how to eat and drink to help with pregnancy nausea, how to stimulate your sense of smell, touch, and hearing to aid in decreasing your morning sickness symptoms, and even why some women have pregnancy nausea in evenings.
Nausea can give us anxiety resulting in a constant loop of throwing up and being afraid of throwing up. I you’re looking for holistic / at-home remedies, this post shares 11 remedies I’ve used in my pregnancies to manage my nausea!
Disclaimer: None of this is medical advice, it is a mix of information from the book Nuture written by Erica Chidi Cohen, as well as my own personal experience and what has helped me with pregnancy nausea. If none of these home remedies for nausea during pregnancy help you, you may need to see your doctor and discuss what can be done to get your nutrition and pregnancy back on track. The most important thing is the health of you and baby.
Supplement Daily
1. Ginger Supplements
Ginger capsules and ginger tea are good candidates. Take the capsules as you would another supplement or as recommended on the label. Drink Ginger tea before meals and before bed.
2. Vitamin B6
Low levels of vitamin B6 in the body can contribute to nausea. Find a good B6 supplement and follow instructions on the label!
3. Antihistamine
As mentioned in the book Nurture, there is an over-the-counter antihistamine called Unisom (doxylamine) that is meant to help with vomiting. This supplement can also can increase sleepiness. I don’t have personal experience with this over-the-counter antihistamine, but if it’s something that you feel could help to just stop the vomiting so you can get back to normal habits eating and drinking again, this can be an important step in your well-being. Speaking of eating and drinking…
Eat and Drink Appropriately
4. Stay Hydrated
Start your day with water or ginger tea. I know it’s hard because you can become afraid that if you put ANYTHING in, it’ll come back up, BUT you’ve got to start getting ahead of your nausea. Staying hydrated by drinking water all day is a big part of what helped with my pregnancy nausea.
Part of the reason why drinking more water can help with pregnancy nausea is that the water keeps your organs and body processing the elevated levels of hormones from pregnancy, such as progesterone, estrogen, and relaxin to name a few. With these elevated levels of hormones swirling around, your body needs an equal increase in water intake to keep everything moving so your system can handle the increase without feeling overwhelmed; overwhelm leads to emergency elimination (vomiting).
Anytime I began to feel a bit of nausea, I drank water and reached for a snack. Read more below on why snacking can help.
5. High Protein and Fat Snacks for Balanced Blood Sugar
Low blood sugar levels contribute to nausea in pregnancy. So it helps to not let your body get TOO hungry. Beat the morning wave of nausea by reaching for a high-fat/high-protein containing snack early in the morning after you wake and even before lunch hour. These are two times when our blood sugar naturally dips. Another time is in the evening before bed. This is why morning sickness can feel worse at night to some. Whenever these times arise, having an appropriate snack on hand can make all the difference in your “morning sickness” symptoms.
Some good high protein/high fat containing snacks include:
olives
hummus
cheese
nuts
eggs
crackers
Stimulate Your Senses to Help Calm Your Nervous System
This next section is to educate you on ways to bring your nervous system back in balance. When you feel calm and in control, with less anxiety about throwing up, you can actually help to control our bodily functions. Your body is always listening to your brain, and vice versa so when you feel out of control, you most likely will be.
By stimulating your senses with techniques that help you to feel in control, as well as a mindset shift, you can bring about the results you are looking for during these hard times. It’s possible to ride the wave of nausea and make it to the other side.
6. Mindset Shift
When nausea hits and you’re afraid to throw up, first you have to tell your body and mind that you’re in control and if you do throw up, it is because your body needs to, but sometimes JUST the anxiety of throwing up will increase the likelihood of it happening. Work on being mentally strong and telling yourself that you will NOT throw up and believe that all the remedies you use will help to keep your system moving in the proper direction.
7. Deep Breathing and Movement
Deep Breathing techniques, almost like how you’d breathe through a contraction while giving birth. Have no shame because this will help you ride a wave of nausea just as you would ride the wave of a contraction! Deep breathing while elongating your torso (sitting cat /cow stretches) can help you keep the nausea at bay until it passes.
8. Essential Oils
Peppermint or lemon essential oil to smell whenever nausea hit and it helped with the deep breathing.
9. Cold Compress
A cold compress to the forehead or back of neck can help when nauseous.
10. Acupressure
11. Music Can Help
YouTube has binaural beats for nausea relief.. and whether it’s the placebo effect or not, these have helped me and I’d be holding back if I didn’t share this tip. If you’re like me, when you’re in the thick of it, you’ll try something even if it sounds coo-ky!
Comment below if any of my tips have helped you! <3
Conclusion
If you can detox your body before getting pregnant, you’ll have more luck with less pregnancy nausea. There are a few causes for pregnancy nausea but majorly it’s caused by the changes in hormones floating through your blood and body and your body does the thing that is easiest for eliminating and making the job of homeostasis easier.
For me, breathing during a wave of nausea is so key, along with the light stretching of my torso and using lemon and peppermint essential oils with my eyes closed. That’s how you’ll find me during my first trimester if you’re looking for me! haha!
