Morning Sickness: The Easy Fixes

Despite the benefits of morning sickness (see below), most women say they want it gone. Actually, they rarely tell me they want it gone...it's usually more of a cry, plead, whine, beg, or frustrated shout.

Remedies abound, but different ones work for different women and for different pregnancies. I always advise women to start with the ones that have no adverse side effects (or even beneficial side effects), and go from there. The other end of spectrum is using prescription anti-nausea drugs, which for some women do become necessary.

Try these things first:
1. Eat small, frequent meals. Never go more than two hours without having a bite of something.
2. When you go to bed at night, leave crackers or nuts on your nightstand. Set your alarm for an hour before you need to get up. Eat a few bites, go back to sleep. When you awake, your stomach won't be empty.
3. Stop taking your prenatal vitamins, especially if they are high in iron. You can start again when you have your morning sickness under control. Your baby will be fine in the meantime.
4. Click on this checklist of things to try for morning sickness. Print it out and check the remedies off as you try them...you may be surprised at what works!
5. Try herbal teas: red raspberry leaf (make sure you are not buying raspberry flavored tea), nettle, peppermint, and ginger teas all can be effective on morning sickness. In a clinical trial published in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, ginger was found to be very effective. Red Raspberry Leaf, Woman To Be, Pregnancy Tea, and Ginger tea can be found at local health food stores, the nutrition center at Fred Meyer's, or online at this website. Nettle tea is harder to come by, but has the "side effects" of being high in iron and one of the best herbs there are for pregnancy. It is easiest to buy in bulk at Limbo.

And if these things don't work? Part 3 will have Pills, Pills, Pills.