During pregnancy, your body will start to produce larger quantities of the human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) hormone. This ensures that your baby gets everything it needs in the early weeks of the pregnancy. Once the placenta has developed enough to nourish the baby, your body will start to produce less hCG and your nausea should start to ease. Until this stage, pregnant women are likely to have morning sickness.

There are some other hormones that can cause morning sickness during pregnancy, these include estrogen and cortisol.

Whilst an unpleasant experience, morning sickness shouldn’t affect yours or your baby’s health, especially if you make sure you stay hydrated. However, if you do start to notice that your sickness is causing you to lose weight you may want to chat with your doctor.

How Long Will Morning Sickness Last?

For most women, morning sickness should start to pass at around the fourteen to the sixteen-week mark. In some cases, though it will go one for longer and in a few unfortunate cases, it can last the entire pregnancy.

If your morning sickness is severe to the point where you struggle to keep even water down, you should speak to your midwife. It may be that you have a serious form of prenatal sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). HG can potentially be serious enough to require treatment in hospital as it can leave you severely dehydrated.

Home Remedies for Morning Sickness

1. Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a great way to relax but depending on your sensitivities, certain smells could actually make your nausea worse. Test a few essential oils out to see which ones help and which ones don’t. Oils that commonly help to reduce nausea include.

• peppermint
• spearmint
• mandarin
• sweet orange
• lime
• lemon
• ginger

Although it can help to ease nausea, ginger oil should be used sparingly as it is thought that it could potentially trigger contractions. To learn how to do aromatherapy, read our article How To Do Aromatherapy.

2. Ginger

Fresh ginger and ginger teas are often hailed as one of the best ways to calm morning sickness. It’s great for nausea in general, as discussed in our home remedies for nausea article, but it’s specifically helpful for women struggling with morning sickness. It seems to work especially well for people who like to wrap themselves up in many layers or often feel cold.

Nibbling on ginger biscuits can also help, although don’t have too many as they’re quite high in sugars. Too much sugar could cause a peak and then a crash in your blood sugar which would actually make you feel worse.

You can make a ginger tea quite easily too. Just add some fresh, grated ginger to some boiled water and leave it to cool. You can then sip on it throughout the day.

 

3. Peppermint

In Chinese medicine, peppermint is thought to work for people who are the opposite of the people that find ginger helpful. It’s the yin to ginger’s yang. This means peppermint is more likely to calm your morning sickness if you have any of the following symptoms.

• often feel too hot and have to remove layers of clothing
• want cooler drinks
• often feel irritable
• are described as hot-headed

Sipping peppermint teas or chewing on sugar-free gums that are peppermint flavored can really help.

 

4. Music

Some women find that the movement of being in a car can make their morning sickness worse. Certain music apps have been developed to help ease your morning sickness. They help by rebalancing the sensitive hearing mechanism deep within your ear. These apps work best when you’re wearing headphones rather than earphones as this helps the music to rebound off your eardrum in a more effective way.

 

5. Reflexology

Reflexology isn’t a proven home remedy for morning sickness, but it is worth trying as it does seem to have some effect. The theory behind reflexology is that your feet form a map of your body. Based on this theory, pressing your feet in certain areas can help to relieve your symptoms and help you to feel less nauseous.

6. Eat or Drink Something Sour

It might seem strange, but sour foods and drinks actually make great home remedies for morning sickness. Sucking on a sour candy or sipping on the lemon-flavored water can really help to settle your stomach.

7. Simple Starches

Simple starches like crackers or plain toast are really gentle on an upset stomach. This means that you’re more likely to keep these foods down and satisfy your hunger. By doing so, you’re more likely to help ease your sickness. You could also try plain pasta if you’re after something a little more substantial.

 

8. Smoothies

If you’re not feeling as though you can keep solid foods down, a smoothie might be a good bet. This will help to neutralize the acids in your stomach and balance out your blood sugar which will help to combat your morning sickness.

 

9. Trail Mix

A tasty mix of fruits, nuts, and a few chocolate chips, trail mix is a great home remedy for morning sickness. It’s a light snack that’s relatively healthy and the nuts can really help to settle an upset stomach.

 

10. Vitamin B6

Adding a little more vitamin B6 to your diet is another good home remedy for morning sickness. It has been shown to reduce the symptoms of morning sickness in a number of studies. Aim to have around 25mg of the vitamin three times every day. You can usually find this sort of dosage in supermarket supplements.  

11. Exercise

Although you probably don’t feel too much like being active when you’re suffering from morning sickness, it could actually do you some good. Even walking for as little as twenty minutes each day can help. This is because exercise releases endorphins which help tackle to tiredness and nausea that can come with morning sickness.

 

12. Changing Your Eating Patterns

Sometimes, all you need to combat your morning sickness is to rid your stomach of that empty feeling. Try to adjust your eating patterns so that you have more frequent but smaller sized meals.

 

13. Magnesium

Magnesium is often crucial to neutralizing your stomach acids and as such, it makes a great home remedy for morning sickness. One of the great things about magnesium is that it’s so easy to get your fill of it. Many leafy greens such as spinach are packed full of the stuff. You can also buy it in the form of supplements from many stores. Using Epsom bath salts is another great way to boost your magnesium levels. Getting your magnesium this way also means that the mineral is absorbed directly through the skin and so it’s taken up by your body in a more effective way.

 

14. Beans

Beans make a great home remedy for morning sickness during your pregnancy. This is because beans help to rid your system of toxins which would otherwise make you feel nauseous.

15. Potatoes

It is thought that potatoes might be able to absorb excess stomach acid, thus providing an alkalizing effect. It’s because of this that they make a great home remedy for morning sickness.

16. Probiotics

Ensuring that the foods we eat are broken down properly in our stomachs not only helps smooth digestion but also helps to quell nausea. They, therefore, make a great home remedy for morning sickness. They help to form a better balance of bacteria in your gut and allow it to work correctly. As such, they also help to reduce the stress placed on your liver, which can further help to reduce your morning sickness.

 

17. Get Plenty of Rest

The more rest and sleep you have, the better your morning sickness will be. It’s important that you listen to what your body is telling you and take a nap or rest for a few minutes if you start to feel tired. It’s important that you take the time to rest in order to take care of yourself and your baby. Remember – you’re growing a brand-new life so it’s okay and totally normal to feel a little tired now and then. Just a few minutes rest can give you the energy boost you need and stop you from feeling so sick.

 

18. Lemon

Lemon is a well-known home remedy for morning sickness. It can help to smell a soft lemon fragrance, sip on lemon infused water or suck on lemon flavored candies. It can also be a better fragrance to help mask other potent smells which are making your morning sickness worse.

 

19. Reduce Your Stress Levels

Stress and the release of the stress hormone cortisol can often play a role in making you feel nauseous. Try to take deep breaths to calm your heart rate and reduce your stress levels. You can also try other relaxing activities such as taking a bath, reading or listening to gentle music whilst lying in bed.

20. Stay Hydrated

Drinking enough water is often one of the most basic and well-recognized home remedies for morning sickness. Regularly sipping some fresh, room temperature water can help to drastically reduce your nausea. If you struggle to remember to drink enough, try purchasing a bottle with little markers or trackers drawn into their design. This will help you to monitor whether or not you’re getting enough to drink. You can also try coconut water as a tasty and hydrating alternative.

 

21. Watermelon

Watermelon is often considered by many as a superfood for its ability to tame morning sickness. It’s really hydrating which helps to reduce your nausea. Plus, it makes a tasty and healthy snack that will stop your becoming nauseous as a result of untamed hunger.

 

22. Control Your Breathing

Slow, deep breaths are a great way to calm the nausea of morning sickness. Try breathing deeply through your nose for five counts. Then breath out through your mouth for the same length of time. Repeat this until you feel better. Many people also suggest closing your eyes as your breath as this can help you to relax which will equally help to ease your nausea. Taking slow, deep breaths can also help reduce nausea.

 

23. Fennel

Eating fennel seeds or adding fennel powder to your meal or tea can really help to calm nausea associated with morning sickness.

24. Try Relaxing Your Muscles

Relaxing your muscles may help reduce nausea brought on by morning sickness. You can try a technique called progressive muscle relaxation. This is where you focus on relaxing your body one muscle group of a time. This can help you to feel more relaxed and thus help you to feel better too.

25. Avoid Strong Smells

Strong smells can often trigger pregnancy nausea and worsen your morning sickness. Try to avoid any strong smells that may upset your stomach and make you feel worse.

 

26. Avoid Iron Supplements

If your iron levels are normal during pregnancy you should avoid taking iron supplements. Taking these supplements during the first trimester of pregnancy can cause your nausea to worsen.

 

27. Drink Lemonade

Drinking lemonade can work wonders on your morning sickness. Not only will it give you all the benefits of fresh lemons, but drinking slightly flat soda can also help to calm your stomach. That means drinking lemonade gives you a double whammy in terms of being a home remedy for morning sickness.

 

28. Apple Juice

Apple juice is a great home remedy for morning sickness. Keep a glass by your bed and sip it through the night to keep your blood sugar stable. This is a great way to preventing your blood sugar hitting a low trough in the night which will stop you feeling sick when you wake up.

29. Plenty of Fresh Air

Getting out into the outdoors and getting plenty of fresh air can help to relieve some of the effects of hormonal activity – including nausea. If your morning sickness is causing your problems, try standing outside for a while and breathing in the fresh air for a few minutes.

 

30. Avoid Spicy, Fried, Rich, Fatty, and Greasy foods.

These foods will sit heavily on your stomach which can add to your feeling of nausea. Steer clear of them as much as you can during pregnancy to reduce the effects of morning sickness.

 

31. Avoid Caffeine

Caffeine has a number of effects on your body and during pregnancy, it can add to your morning sickness. Try to limit your intake or replace your coffee and tea fix with herbal, naturally caffeine free teas instead.

 

32. Raspberry Leaf Tea

This herbal tea is often suggested as one which can help to tame morning sickness in the early stages of pregnancy. It’s also naturally caffeine free which means you’re less likely to experience the negative side effects which you might experience from drinking caffeinated drinks.

Which of these home remedies will you try? Comment below!

References

https://www.babycentre.co.uk/a549314/morning-sickness-natural-remedies

https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/morning-sickness/morning-sickness-remedies-that-really-work/

https://www.mamanatural.com/natural-morning-sickness-remedies/

https://www.thepragmaticparent.com/natural-remedies-for-morning-sickness/

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9602/30-natural-remedies-for-morning-sickness.html

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nausea-remedies