Morning sickness affects more than half of all pregnant women so if you’re suffering you’re not alone!  Although called ‘morning’ sickness, nausea can sometimes last all day.  Morning sickness is caused by an increase in beta-hCG hormones, which are prominent during the first 3 months of pregnancy.   The heightened sensitivity to smells and low blood sugar levels also play a role in the severity of the nausea.  In most cases, when the beta-hCG hormones decreases after the first trimester, so does the nausea.  However some women continue to experience nausea throughout their pregnancy.  Whatever the cause, it’s certainly not pleasant!  Here are 5 tried and tested top tips for reducing morning sickness.

 1.    Ginger

Ginger possesses potent anti nausea properties and has been traditionally used for all types of nausea.  You can get ginger in many forms including, adding fresh ginger to foods, sipping ginger tea, sucking crystalized ginger, taking ginger capsules or even eating gingerbread or ginger biscuits.

 2.    Hydrate

Being dehydrated can exacerbate feelings of nausea so staying hydrated is important.  You should ideally be drinking 8 glasses (or 2 litres) of water per day.  However when you’re feeling sick, sometimes water is the last thing you feel like putting in your stomach.  So don’t restrict yourself to plain water alone.  Remember it doesn’t just have to be cold water.  Add lemon juice and honey to some hot water or brew a ginger or peppermint tea.  If you prefer it cool, enjoy a chilled glass from the fridge.   Add a touch of lime juice, apple juice or fruit juice of your choice.  Place some water and juice into icy pole moulds and suck on these during the warmer months.  If you prefer bubbles, keep some sparkling water in the fridge.  For those experiencing severe nausea, adding electrolytes to your water can assist hydration, for example gastrolyte or Gatorade.

3.    Eat small and often

Eating regular small meals can help keep blood sugar levels stable, which can help reduce nausea.  Try eating every 3 – 4 hours, have some healthy snacks handy in the cupboard or carry some snacks with you when you’re out to keep hunger at bay.  Include low GI carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats into your meals as much as possible, for example porridge with a sprinkling of crushed nuts and seeds or quinoa with chicken and olive oil dressing or a wholegrain salmon and salad sandwich.  Good ideas for healthy snacks include nuts and seeds, museli bars, wholegrain crackers or ginger biscuits.  You can also access nutritious recipes on my blog.

 4.    Acupressure

There’s an anti nausea acupressure point located on the inside of your wrist a ‘3 finger width’ distance from the base of your hand in the centre of your wrist.  You can either hold pressure on this point with your other hand or you can buy specially made wrist-bands to maintain continual pressure.

 5.    Multivitamins

Maintaining a healthy nutrient balance is vital for healthy growth and development of your baby and can help reduce symptoms of morning sickness.  Particularly the nutrients B6 and magnesium can be helpful during bouts of nausea.  However some multivitamins can be difficult to digest and some include allergenic excipients including gluten, lactose and animal product.  So when choosing a multivitamin look for one with no added nasties and well absorbed forms of essential nutrients, such as Zycia Natal Nutrients.  If you’re unsure, visit my blog to find out more.