Nausea and vomiting, or ‘morning sickness, can be common occurrences during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. However, it can continue for longer than the first trimester. Although it is often called ‘morning sickness’, it can actually happen any time of the day.
It’s not known exactly why pregnant women experience nausea and vomiting. It has been hypothesized that morning sickness is an adaptive response by mothers that has evolved over time, possibly to avoid high risk foods that may cause food borne illness during pregnancy.
There are a few tips that you can follow to ease ‘morning sickness’.
- Before getting out of bed in the morning, eat some dry bread, biscuits, or cereal. Then get out of bed slowly and avoid sudden movements.
- Avoid large meals — rather than having 3 big meals in the day, you could have 5-6 small meals throughout the day.
- Drink liquids in between meals as opposed to with your meals.
- Avoid greasy foods and very spicy foods.
- Suck something sour such as a slice of lemon.
- Try to get some fresh air whenever possible — especially if you are working in an office all day.
- Slowly sip some sparkling water when feeling nauseated.
- Add ginger to foods and drinks as this is thought to provide relief to nausea.
- Travel bands used to treat travel sickness
If your ‘morning sickness’ has completely put you off food and you are worried that you are eating too little during the day, you should contact your healthcare professional who may recommend a suitable pregnancy dietary supplement to compensate for important nutrients being missed out on in the diet.
