Let’s
face it ladies, those nine months of pregnancy can be a long and bumpy ride.
Between cravings, aches and morning sickness, enduring the early stages of
pregnancy can feel like a never-ending battle. A whopping 70 percent of
pregnant women experience nausea in the early stages of their pregnancy and
about 50 percent experience vomiting. While this is a symptom many newly
pregnant women face, the severity of the nausea they experience varies.
According to Dr. Marjorie Greenfield, an OB-GYN and author of “The Working
Woman’s Pregnancy Book,” some pregnant women feel sick toward the evening, some
feel sick all throughout the day and some even feel sick if they haven’t gotten
enough sleep. Morning sickness can begin as early as six weeks into pregnancy
and typically peaks around the eighth or ninth week.
Before you
panic, it is important to know there are plenty of natural and efficient ways
to combat morning sickness. From simple lifestyle changes to the use of acupressure
bands, warding off nausea can be simple, useful, and ultimately make your
pregnancy much less stressful!
Aromatherapy
Sure, it may
sound crazy, but a mere whiff of a soothing scent has many physiological
benefits! What many pregnant women do not know is that morning sickness is
often brought on by certain smells. According to Miriam Erick, a senior
dietitian and nutritionist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, estrogen is the
hormone responsible for the sense of smell. If your estrogen hormones are
exceptionally high like they tend to be during pregnancy, your sense of smell
may be keener than it normally is. This influx of hormones means that potent
smells can take an exceptional toll on your well-being, making you more
susceptible to nausea and vomiting.
Don’t have
access to an open window? No problem. A good way to combat this is by exposing
yourself to fresh, natural scents and aromas. Try carrying a small bottle of
lemon extract or a bit of mildly scented potpourri with a spring of fresh
rosemary in your bag or backpack. Whenever you encounter a smell that turns your
stomach, simply take a whiff and experience relief!
Drink A Lot of Water
Keeping yourself
hydrated throughout the day has a wide variety of health benefits. Drinking
plenty of water has been proven to relieve fatigue, promote weight loss, flush
out toxins, and even boost immune system functions. Making sure your body is in
proper working order is of particular importance during your pregnancy and can
help you combat the issues that often arise from morning sickness. The more
dehydrated your body becomes, the more prone you are to nausea. Often, drinking
so much water every day can be a particularly difficult challenge. To help with
this, try snacking on salty snacks, like chips or pretzels, throughout the day.
These snacks will settle your stomach and trigger your thirst, making it much
easier to reach that eight glasses a day goal.
Some pregnant
women also swear by crunching on ice chips or sipping hot or cold beverages. It
may sound odd, but temperature makes a huge difference physiologically. If a
beverage is at room temperature, it often can make people feel sick and queasy.
Avoiding room-temperature beverages is a simple trick to help prevent the pesky
nauseousness that puts a burden on your body and your life!
Make Adjustments to Your
Diet
During
pregnancy, you will face some extreme changes, both physically and emotionally.
These changes often warrant obsessive cravings or reversely a disinterest in
eating anything at all. Regardless of which category you fall into, unhealthy
eating habits consequently result in intense bouts of nausea and vomiting. It
is important to remember that one of the most important things a woman can do
during your pregnancy is to find foods that work for her.
Even if munching
on a snack is the last thing you want to do, you need to get food into your
stomach—the struggle is often just a matter of figuring out what! Every woman
is different, and therefore every woman has different preferences on what foods
settle their stomachs and which foods upset their stomachs. Unfortunately,
there is no bona fide list of foods that settle the upset stomachs of all
pregnant women. However, a general rule of thumb is that bland, carb-rich foods
like saltine crackers, dry cereal and pretzels, can settle a stomach during
instances of morning sickness. On the other hand, foods that are spicy and rich
in fat tend to cause nausea more quickly. To suppress morning sickness before
it begins, keep a few packages of saltines by your bed and snack on them slowly
before getting up in the morning!
Also, pairing
complex carbohydrates with proteins, such as those found in whole wheat bread
or cheeses, can combat feelings of exhaustion and fatigue throughout the day.
Not a fan of saltines? Luckily for you, there are plenty of healthy options to
choose! Try cold treats like fresh watermelon or popsicles to ease your upset
stomach.
Adjust the Brightness of
your computer and other devices
During periods
of morning sickness, you will often find yourself spending long days in bed
cuddled up with your laptop browsing the web and living vicariously through
your friends on social media. What many people do not know is that the
brightness of your screen, whether it be at home or work, can regularly affect
your general sense of wellbeing and can prompt feelings of nauseousness. The
majority of computer screens have an undetectable strobe effect that may cause
nausea, initially, or worsen preexisting nausea. To combat this, try adjusting
your screen’s brightness to reduce eye strain. Also, play around with your
computer’s settings and make the font size bigger and bolder. Changing your
desktop’s background to a more subtle color can also be a benefit. Try choosing
a soothing, muted color like a soft pink or tan. While these changes may not
offer immediate nausea relief, they will help you feel a little better in the
long run.
Don’t feel
afraid to take breaks from your device frequently throughout the day. Spending
hours upon hours focused on a digital screen can be draining, both mentally and
psychically! Simply closing your eyes from time to time is also a way to reduce
this strain.
Consider Acupressure Bands

If you’re prone
to travel or motion sickness, you may have already heard of acupressure bands.
Many women who are weary of medical treatments swear by these natural nausea
treatments. Sea-Bands are reusable and washable and made from a soft, knitted elastic
which provides pressure to the Nei-Kuan pressure point of your wrist. This
point is known to provide relief from nausea in just minutes! The band is 100
percent drug-free and completely adjustable, making it suitable for adults and
children alike. Next time you are feeling a bit queasy in the morning, strap one
of these acupressure bands and get the relief you deserve for a happy, healthy
pregnancy!
Did we forget to
add your go-to nausea relief method to the list? Share your ideas in the
comment section below!
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