How to Fight Nausea in Pregnancy with 11 Amazing Tips
The dreaded morning sickness is one of the roughest parts about pregnancy. It isn’t limited to the morning, and isn’t even limited to the first trimester! So it’s important to know the best ways to fight nausea in pregnancy and relive that horrid morning sickness!
**This post contains affiliate links to items I’ve used and love and am confident will benefit you immensely. You can read the full disclosure here if you’d like.**
What causes nausea in pregnancy?
No one actually knows what causes “morning sickness.” Also known as nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
It is speculated that the extreme change in hormones may be to blame. Also the enhanced sense of smell and taste that you experience during pregnancy may contribute to your morning sickness symptoms.
Whatever the cause we just want to get rid of it right? Morning sickness can be terrible! 75% of women experience some sort of nausea during their first trimester. About half of those also experience vomiting.
There is even an extreme case of morning sickness known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum (or HG). This is a condition in which you suffer from severe nausea and vomiting all the time and experience weight loss and electrolyte imbalance as a result. If you think you are suffering from HG please consult your doctor or midwife.
RELATED: How to Prepare Your Body for a Healthy Pregnancy
Prenatal nutrition and fitness feels like a mystery to many of us. I mean your doctor hardly even touches on that area at all.
And yet, we now know that what you eat and how active you are while pregnant directly affects your baby’s genetic outcome, turning on and off certain genes based on your nutrition and fitness!
How’s a mom to know what to eat, what not to eat, and how to safely exercise to have a fit bump-only pregnancy and grow the most healthy baby possible through her diet and exercise?
There is this new ah-mazingly extensive, detailed, and easy to apply 2-part prenatal nutrition and fitness course called The Perfect Pregnancy Plan.
It’s created by a Personal Fitness Trainer who’s also certified in Nutrition and Lifestyle During Pregnancy and it breaks down EVERYTHING about prenatal nutrition, has tons of amazing recipes, and even has a full 40 week workout plan that addresses all your prenatal needs from pelvic floor, to diastasis recti, to prenatal backache.
If you have ever wondered about anything related to prenatal diet and exercise, the Perfect Pregnancy Plan is exactly what you need.
How can I get rid of nausea in Pregnancy?
These 11 tips are exactly what you need to fight nausea the best you can during pregnancy! There are lots of tools, tricks, and foods that can really help to alleviate the nausea your feeling every day.
This post is far more than just my own ideas. I’ve tried to get the best information for you possible by polling handfuls of moms and bringing together the best tips for you to fight that morning sickness! everyone’s experience is a little different, so I thought this post would be the greatest benefit to you by bringing together a handful of mothers’ advice and experiences.
(You will even notice for every subsequent pregnancy your own experiences can be very different.) However I found it interesting how much many of these mothers’ advice crossed over. It seems there was an overwhelming response that indicated that eating small amounts all throughout the day was extremely important to combatting nausea in pregnancy.
RELATED: I Was Shocked How Desperately I Needed these 7 Things for Pregnancy
My personal morning sickness experiences.
For my first pregnancy I had morning sickness for exactly the first three months. Although it wasn’t MORNING sickness, it was evening sickness. I would be fine all day until dinner, then throw up. It really wasn’t all that terrible. Annoying, but pretty predictable and once I threw up I’d feel ok again.
My second pregnancy was way more tough. The first 3 months I was nauseous all the time, but never threw up. Which seems to just make the nausea go on and on. Unless I chewed gum. For some reason the sweetness would put me right over the edge and would immediately be running to the bathroom to puke. And I have a massive gum chewing addiction, so that was a bit rough.
Then after a full trimester of relief, the nausea came back for my entire 3rd trimester! I didn’t even know that was possible until I experienced it. But I found that it is actually quite normal to have 3rd trimester morning sickness.
My second pregnancy gave me the opportunity to try out all kinds of methods to ease nausea.
Even though you may not be able to completely eliminate nausea in pregnancy, it is so helpful to have multiple tools to relieve or reduce the debilitating symptom of nausea.
11 Tips and Tools to Fight Nausea in Pregnancy
1. A Morning Sickness Accupressure Band
An easy thing that helped me was using an accupressure band for morning sickness. The band puts pressure on a specific accupressure spot on your inner wrist. It helps relieve nausea caused by pregnancy or motion sickness.
The one I used was Sea Band Morning Sickness Wrist Bands
. Honestly, it worked best when worn regularly during those weeks I was prone to morning sickness.
If I waited to put it on until after the nausea hit, it took a while to work. Instead, I wore it as a preventative measure and it help greatly! As long as I wore the wrist bands on both wrists, I didn’t feel sick very often.
Stated Stormy Stevenson from Pregnantmamababylife.com.
2. Eat More Protein
- drink ginger ale
- eat saltines
And I was miserable. By my 3rd pregnancy, I learned:
Morning sickness can actually be manageable if you just know what to do!
Eat more protein. Try almonds when you get out of bed. Hummus, beef jerky, and boiled eggs are great protein snacks. And adding protein powder or nut butter to your smoothie can help when you can’t stomach a full meal.
3. Take B Vitamins and Probiotics
The easiest and most soothing way to take these two pertinent supplements to fight nausea during pregnancy is to have Ginger Kombucha
on hand at all times. You can drink kombucha for the B vitamins and probiotics. The Ginger flavored Kombuchas were my favorite.
I found drinking it about 30 minutes before meals helped me lose the nausea and indigestion and be able to eat. If you’ve never tried kombucha before, consult your care provider before trying.
We all know that seltzer water, lemon, and ginger are great ways to aid nausea. Kombucha is an even healthier alternative that is more effective. Lisa at Birth Eat Love swears by tips 2 and 3!
4. Eat whatever you can, whenever you can.
One of the reasons that “morning sickness” can be worse in the morning is that having an empty stomach tends to bring it on.
But when all the “healthy” food is gross, your stomach might be empty… a lot.
So don’t worry about nutrition, don’t worry about calories. If you find something that you can eat, eat it. For weeks I stressed about nutrition. One day I spent half an hour forcing down a protein powder and fruit smoothie. It was SO awful. But I got it down.
And I kept it down for approx 3.5 minutes. Nutrition is extremely important during pregnancy, but surviving the nausea is just as important.
The day I discovered that I could eat potatoes was the best day. Any form of potatoes! And I could eat cold white food. Ice cream, plain yogurt, vanilla milkshakes. Those things were all ok.
I admitted to my doctor that I was eating nothing but potatoes and ice cream, expecting a lecture. I was SO relieved that he just laughed and assured me that my baby was more like a parasite than a pet, and it would take what it needed from me.
You will feel one hundred times less nauseous if you feed yourself SOMETHING. Beyond this wonderfully helpful advice Carly Campbell has lots more great advice for surviving the first trimester even beyond morning sickness.
5. Ginger Lozengers
I absolutely lived off of giner lozengers. I felt like every break on work I was running next door to World Market to pick up some more Ginger Lozengers
!
Think of it like a cough drop for your cold. It’s something you want in your purse at all times while you’re pregnant. Because who knows when those overwhelming feelings of nausea will come next! Remember, they aren’t nearly limited to morning or the first trimester… unfortunately.
RELATED: How to Use Essential Oils to Avoid Tearing During Pregnancy
6. 3 Lollies Preggie Pops
For some reason the taste of sour tends to calm morning sickness. Remember earlier I stated that I had a huge addiction to gum, and the sweetness would make me puke every single time?
Well the only way I found to qualm that addiction and ease my nausea at the same time was with sour gum. (Which was fortunately being cleared out of the store I was working at and I bought it by the box!) The times I wasn’t chewing gum I was sucking on 3 Lollies Preggie Pops.
They are little sour candies in assorted flavors that really help fight nausea! Even peppermint candies can be a huge help! Try sour candies, ginger candies, and mint candies. Really it’s best to keep both on you at all times.
Cindy from Living for the Sunshine reiterates this tip! My number one tip for morning sickness is to have something sour stashed with you at all times. During my pregnancies, I had bad nausea in the morning, but an attack could hit me at any time during the day. Jolly Rancher candies were my go-to, but any sour candy would do in a pinch. I carried a bag with me everywhere and popped one in my mouth any time I felt nauseous. I literally had a bag stashed
- in my nightstand
- another in my car
- and a third one in my purse.
I don’t want to even tell you how many bags of Jolly Ranchers I bought in my first trimester!
If you want to avoid eating candy 24/7 in your first trimester like I did, I figured out another hack after I got a bad cold during my pregnancy. I had a nasty cold that lasted what seemed like FOREVER.
I was drinking hot water with honey and lemon constantly. I realized that even sniffing the lemon could get me through a wave of nausea. Walking around with a lemon in your purse might be a little less subtle than a few candies, but it was another lifesaver rel=”nofollow noopener” for me.
7. Eat Bland Foods
I could only stomach really bland foods I discovered. I have never been a big health food eater, but I learned to be pretty resourceful when it came to meeting my nutritional requirements during pregnancy.
Iron, protein, calcium, vitamin D, and folate are the big nutrients that deserve attention while you are pregnant. Unfortunately, you can’t get all of these nutrients from eating crackers all day (which was one of the only foods I could stomach!)
I had to find other bland foods I could actually hold down that would contribute to meeting my nutritional requirements. Great options I found were:
- Some cereals (many contain iron, calcium, and folate.)
- Milk
- Eggs (both are great sources for protein and vitamin D.)
I started with these, and slowly added other bland foods. I pretty much lived on these kinds of foods, as anything with too much grease or flavor made me ill. This, in conjunction with eating small amounts, seemed to keep Audrey from Mommy Enlightened’s nausea (mostly) at bay.
8. Eat Lots of Small Meals All Day
Morning sickness can be so difficult on a pregnant mama! I’ve had three kids and had morning sickness with each. Sometimes it lasted just a few weeks, but other times it lasted a few months!
Every mom is different. For me, the natural solution to morning-sickness was the same each time – eating small but frequent meals that were filling. Sandwiches, oatmeal, yogurt, crackers… all of these helped keep my stomach at ease for the most part.
If I skipped a snack, I would almost always notice. To help you stay on track with your frequent snacks, plan ahead!
Make a list of little meals that you can eat and enjoy. If you need ideas you can download my “Healthy Mom’s Snack Checklist” free printable now!
BONUS – try to incorporate foods you’re craving if you have any cravings already! Then prep a few of these little meals ahead of time so that you can easily grab a snack when you need it.
Be sure to avoid foods that might be uncomfortable in the event that you do throw up though! Rice, spicy foods, popcorn, nuts… all of these can be very uncomfortable if you do throw up! If you find yourself throwing up, despite all the amazing tips in this post, try to avoid foods like this… You’ll thank me!”
Tip #8 in particular seems to be the most important to fight nausea during pregnancy. Mom after mom (including myself) agreed with Rachel from The Analytical Mommy in eating small amounts, as often as you need it!
9. Drink Your Way to Feeling Great
Tea. Tea is your friend right now. Cold tea, hot tea, whatever works for you. The types to try to ease nausea are Ginger Tea and Peppermint Tea.
- Peppermint Tea
- Lemon Ginger Tea
- Pregnancy Tea
My favorite for quelling nausea during pregnancy was Bigelow Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea Plus Probiotics
I found it to be the best! Probably because it contains both lemon and ginger to calm the quesiness, as well as the additional probiotics that will keep your gut as balanced as it can be right now. I drank it every day.
Beyond tea, keeping Kombucha and selzer water on hand at all times is essential for a nauseous mommy. I can’t number the amount of times I sent my husband to the store to buy lemon seltzer water.
Find the drink that works for you and stock up!
10. Blend Essential Oils
Essential oils are natural plant extracts that are concentrated by distilling. They are very powerful for healing, weightloss, rest, and nausea! Score!
The best and most safe way to use essential oils while pregnant is through diffusing. By using an essential oil diffuser you can fill an entire room of your home with a healing and calming fragrance. The best for calming nausea while pregnant are:
You can diffuse the oils, carry the bottles in your purse to sniff any time, or dab a little on a cotton ball to carry around. Mama needs to do what she can to help easy the nausea in pregnancy!
11. Trust Your Body
As a personal expert on severe morning sickness the best advice I can give a pregnant mama is to trust your body. I have two little boys and both pregnancies I actually lost weight instead of gaining it, due to constant vomiting. It was terrible.
With my first pregnancy, the only things I could stand to eat for the first 20 weeks were hot chips and lemonade ice blocks. Not the healthiest options to grow a baby. I was so worried that he was going to come out looking like a potato!
My second pregnancy was worse. I vomited until 39 weeks and spent most days attempting to buy frozen slushies from places I hadn’t been yet for fear of being judged.
I remember speaking to the obstetrician about it, thinking he was going to shake his head and hand me a carrot stick. He didn’t. He told me about a patient he had a few years back who had never eaten McDonald’s in her life (in fact it horrified her) BUT as soon as she fell pregnant she couldn’t drive past a McDonalds without ordering something.
The moral of the story is this. Trust your body.
, Of course, common sense says to stay away from anything dangerous and try to eat as healthy as you can. Ultimately, go for what you feel like. If it stops you from vomiting, helps you function and gives you some form of energy it will be ok. The very same reassuring doctor also told me that your tiny fetus is a parasite and will be taking every good thing from your body and leaving you with what is left.
For this reason, your pre-pregnancy health is almost more vital than your pregnancy health. I have two little boys who are healthy and happy and neither of them look like a potato shared Shannon Crozier from the Schooled Parent.
I hope at least one of these tips is your secret weapon to calming the queasiness!
What tip did you find the most helpful? Any more ideas to add that helped you out through a previous pregnancy? Let me know more about your experience in the comments below!
One Comment