Tips for coping with morning sickness in pregnancy

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One of the worst things about pregnancy is probably the morning sickness. It’s no fun spending the first 3 months of what is probably one of the most exciting times in your life with your head stuck down the toilet!

What is morning sickness?

Morning sickness is just the term used to describe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. It’s thought to be caused by the changing hormones in your body because of pregnancy.

The worst part?

It’s not limited to just mornings! Some women can feel sick all day long! It’s really common for most women to experience some kind of morning sickness, usually just during the first trimester, but it can last longer. With my second, I was sick and nauseous up until about 24 weeks, and it sucked! Around 7 out of 10 women have some form of morning sickness.

Luckily morning sickness doesn’t have any effects on your baby and should improve by around the 14^th week of pregnancy. Some women are affected by a more severe form of morning sickness known as hyperemesis gravidarum which may require medical treatment, however this is less common. If you are suffering from excessive vomiting, or your morning sickness continues long after 14 weeks, it’s a good idea to see your doctor.

Check this guide for what to expect week by week during pregnancy.

How to treat morning sickness

Unfortunately there’s no cure for morning sickness (boo ☹ ) but there are a few tricks to try that can help keep the nausea at bay.

- Drink plenty of fluids – Having small sips frequently can help with the sickness

- Eat smaller meals more often – not having an empty stomach can lessen nausea

- Eating dry foods before getting out of bed – things like biscuits, crackers or toast

- Eating food that contains ginger – there’s some evidence that ginger can help relieve symptoms of nausea. I used to keep a packet of ginger biscuits beside my bed and try and eat a bit before getting up, which helped a little!

- Wearing sea bands – using acupressure on certain points on your wrists can help relieve nausea.

- Avoid the food and drink that makes you feel sick – this will be different for everyone, but when I was pregnant I couldn’t cope with sausages. The smell of cooking them, the taste, it just totally set off my morning sickness!