The lowdown on morning sickness
Morning sickness is a common side effect of pregnancy, but there are things you can do to help
Most mums-to-be experience morning sickness at some point - normally in the first trimester. The name is pretty misleading, because it can creep up at any time of day.
In some cases, it is only mild queasiness, and can be ward off with regular snacks, but in some cases it can result in vomiting.
Caused by hormonal changes, morning sickness is no fun at all, but it shouldn't affect your general health or your baby in any way. Luckily, your body has good stores of essential nutrients to draw on.
Tackling morning sickness
The good news is, there’s a lot you can do to manage the symptoms. A good first step is to avoid triggers that may set you off. For example, there are often smells that can start you feeling queasy when pregnant.
These 10 tips may help you keep morning sickness under control:
- Get plenty of rest
- Start the day slowly, maybe eating dry toast or a biscuit in bed
- Eat and drink little and often and don’t get too hungry
- Try foods that are high in carbs (such as bread, rice and pasta) and low in fat
- Avoid sweet or spicy food and drinks
- Ask someone to cook for you
- Distract yourself as much as you can –nausea eases off when you don’t think about it
- Ginger supplements may help, but talk to your GP or pharmacist first
- Try acupressure – wearing a special band or bracelet on your forearm may help
- Vitamin B6 is said to sometimes help some mums-to-be, this is not widely supported by scientific evidence so check with your midwife first.
When to get help
If you’re being sick a lot, you may have (hyperemis gravidarum) which can be eased with anti-sickness medication. It’s important to get help, because it can make you very ill and if you get severely dehydrated. If this is the case, you may need to be put on a drip in hospital to rehydrate you and replace lost nutrients. So don’t battle on alone – ask your midwife or doctor for help.
You can seek support from Pregnancy Sickness Support by visiting their website or calling on 024 7638 2020.