Dealing With Morning Sickness? 12 Things to Help Ease Nausea

How common is morning sickness?

Pregnancy is a journey filled with anticipation, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. The unwelcome guest known as morning sickness affects nearly 85% of expectant mothers within the first three months of pregnancy, and for some, it lingers on to the second trimester and beyond (1) (2).

Should I be concerned about severe morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum)?

Morning sickness and its more extreme form, called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) (1), can impact mom-to-be’s quality of life, causing her to miss work, increase healthcare costs, and even make her reconsider future pregnancies. Plus, there's a potential impact on the baby's health to consider too.

What are the possible causes of morning sickness?

Many pregnant women experience morning sickness, but the exact reasons behind it remain a mystery. It's a puzzle that the scientific community is working hard to solve, which adds to the intrigue. There are various theories, but we're still trying to combine all the pieces. Some thoughts on the causes of morning sickness include:

Hormonal changes - it's thought that changes in a woman's immune system, hormones, or physiological changes might be responsible for morning sickness during pregnancy (2)

Pregnancy-related smell changes -  some researchers believe these changes might influence how well one can smell and process different odors (3)

Multiple pregnancies - research suggests that women who have been pregnant more than once or who are carrying more than one baby at a time are more likely to experience increased nausea and vomiting during the first trimester (4)

Genetics - genes might play a role in getting HG, with some studies even saying that if it runs in your family, you could be at a higher risk for it (5)

History - women who have had motion sickness before, get migraines, or eat a lot of fatty foods (especially saturated fat) may be more likely to get morning sickness

 

What's the deal with treatments for morning sickness?

With morning sickness being so common, some doctors and moms-to-be might just brush it off as part of the pregnancy ride (6) (7). Worries about the safety of medications to ease nausea may also make it harder for some to ask for extra support (7). 

But here's the deal: if morning sickness takes a turn for the worse, it can get trickier and might lead to problems like dehydration and fluid and electrolyte imbalances. So, it's not something to take lightly.

Tips for managing morning sickness

Dealing with the ups and downs of morning sickness while you're expecting is like walking a tightrope between finding safe and effective treatments for morning sickness and making tweaks to your diet and lifestyle. Let's dive into some practical tips often recommended to help relieve that queasy feeling during pregnancy (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13).

Summary of lifestyle strategies to manage the signs and symptoms of morning sickness

• Eat something small before getting up in the morning to help settle your stomach
  
  
• Aim for small, frequent meals (five to six meals a day to ensure your stomach isn’t empty and to help with meeting nutritional requirements)
  
  
• Choose foods that are appealing and easy to digest (some standard options include dry toast, crackers, broths and other savory soups, rice, bananas, applesauce, and tea). Eating foods that contain ginger may also help prevent nausea
  
  
• Stay hydrated and aim for 8-12 cups of fluid daily (this can come from water, soups, broths, ginger ale, herbal teas, or electrolyte beverages)
  
  
• Avoid strong odors (have someone cook for you if this is a trigger) or eating certain foods (common trigger foods can include greasy, spicy, and fatty foods)
  
  
• Keep cold and hot foods separate
  
  
• Avoid too much movement after eating and try to stay in an inclined position to avoid reflux that may make nausea worse
  
  
• Get enough sleep and rest to avoid feeling even more tired
  
  
• Try acupressure at the P6 point, which is found on your inner arm near your wrist (9, 10)
  
  
• Consider diaphragmatic breathing techniques, yoga (11) (12), or cold water exposure (13) to activate the vagus nerve
  
  

Chewing may also hold the key to morning sickness relief 

Chewing might seem like something simple we do every day without much thought, but research suggests that it may hold a surprising power to offer potential relief from nausea. When we chew, it sends messages to our brain through a particular nerve called the vagus nerve, setting off a domino effect of responses (14),(15), (16).

This not only helps break down our food but also tells our body to release digestive enzymes that help with the breakdown of food, encouraging peristalsis, the rhythmic contractions of the digestive tract (14),(15), (16). These actions work together to speed digestion and might help with nausea and vomiting during pregnancy by taking some pressure off the stomach and helping food move through our system.

While chewing might not fix all kinds of nausea, it shows how small things we do can have significant effects on our body, giving us more natural ways to approach morning sickness management.

Try out our Nausea Gummies* for a morning sickness remedy

To make managing morning sickness easier, we gathered the best research to create our delicious Nausea Gummies. Ginger, celebrated for its proven nausea-relieving qualities, takes center stage in our powerful formula, providing a comforting 500mg of research-backed support.

In fact, we have the only gummies on the market to pack in the dose of ginger that research says is effective, all in ONE serving. But we didn’t stop there. To help settle your stomach,* we've also included botanicals like:

• Zesty lemon peel
• Tangy tart cherries
• Apple cider vinegar
• Soothing dandelion root