Pregnancy and Baby Tips

Oh, the joys of motherhood! While carrying a child can be one of the most wonderful stages in any woman’s life, it can also be one of the most challenging – especially when you are having your daily dose of that awful pregnancy symptom known as “morning sickness”!

So, what can you do about it? You can’t just pop in a pill or two for it may adversely affect your condition, right? Thankfully, there are a lot of natural ways to ease the common discomforts morning sickness brings. Here are some tips that can help you feel better without using medications.

Understanding Nausea or Morning Sickness

According to Wikipedia.com, more than half of all pregnant women suffer from nausea or morning sickness starting on the 6^th week of their pregnancy. This condition normally lasts throughout the whole first semester but in some cases, the condition may even persist up to the second trimester of pregnancy. And while the term suggests that it usually occur during the day, morning sickness can actually strike any time – and may even last the whole day long.

While a lot of pregnant women only suffer from a mild case of morning sickness, a few (about 1% of all pregnancies) are unlucky enough to be plagued with more severe nausea. In such cases, dehydration, weight loss, alkalosis (a condition wherein the hydrogen ion concentration in the blood plasma is greatly reduced) and hypokalemia (a condition wherein the potassium levels in the blood gets dangerously low) may develop as a result of the condition.

Natural Remedies for Morning Sickness

To relieve morning sickness without using medications, you should:

• Eat smaller meals. Instead of eating three large meals, you should try to eat several smaller meals throughout the day. Make sure your stomach never gets totally empty.
• Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day. Studies show that women who drink a glass of water every hour feel less nauseated.
• Avoid extremely salty and fatty foods. They are harder to digest and may further irritate your digestive system.
• Avoid foods with strong odors (garlic, coffee and meat, among others). These may trigger your nausea.
• Try deep breathing and other relaxation techniques.
• Go for long, leisurely walks to increase your circulation and settle your queasiness.

You can also try the following alternative treatments to relieve morning sickness:

• Try ginger. You can take 250 mg ginger capsules three times during the day (one with every meal) or drink fresh ginger tea whenever you feel nauseous.
• Increase your intake of vitamin B supplements. Research proves that taking 25 mg of vitamin B three times a day for three days can significantly reduce pregnancy-induced nausea and vomiting.
• Go for red raspberry leaf tea. Evidence shows that taking raspberry leaf tea during pregnancy can relieve a lot of pregnancy-related symptoms such as morning sickness. However, experts advise against taking it if you’re at a risk for miscarriage and during the later parts of your pregnancy since it may induce uterine contractions.
• Explore the power of chamomile, lemon balm, and peppermint. These herbal teas can also help you get your morning sickness under control. While some of the essential oils in these herbs are not recommended during pregnancy, their levels are so low that it is basically safe to use them to relieve your symptoms. If in doubt, consult your doctor about it.
• Chew on some fennel or anise seeds. These spices are proven to be effective in calming pregnancy-induced nausea. For best results, take one teaspoon of fennel or anise seeds per day.
• Use sea bands on either wrist to apply pressure on your Nei Kuan acupressure points. This has been scientifically proven to relieve nausea without any negative side effects.
• Infuse your bathwater with grapefruit, lime, mandarin or orange aromatherapy oils.

There are a lot of ways by which you can avoid or keep your morning sickness under control. Try following these tips and soon you’ll be enjoying a morning sickness-free pregnancy!

Hope this was useful,

Kitty Baker

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