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When dealing with morning sickness, the most important thing to remember is that the same thing will not work for everyone, and don’t give up until you find something that works for you. Also, you may not be able to alleviate ALL of your nausea, but even if you can lessen it somewhat, it will make your life much more bearable during these first few weeks. You may find some new ideas of your own that work for you much better than the ideas presented here. If so, I would love to hear about them!

1.    Eat more frequently, just a bite or two every 30 minutes or so to keep your blood sugar up.
2.    Juice ½ of a lemon into a cup of hot water and drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Eat breakfast about 30-40 minutes later.
3.    Eat small amounts of foods with ginger in them – ginger ale, gingersnaps, candied ginger root, etc. Also can try ginger capsules.
4.    Wear a motion sickness band on your wrist.
5.    Chew peppermint gum.
6.    Take extra B-Complex. Start at 100-200 mg per day and increase by 50 mg per day until you are no longer sick. Make sure you are taking a B Complex rather that individual B vitamins, because it is water soluble and will pass through your urine so that you cannot take too much. Also make sure you get the yeast free kind to avoid problems with yeast infections. Take 50 mg amounts throughout the day.  When morning sickness starts to lessen, slowly decrease the amount of B Complex you are taking until you eliminate it all together. According to a home birth midwife, this will relieve morning sickness in 80% of all pregnancies.
7.    Take milk thistle capsules (recommended by Shonda Parker, author of “Naturally Healthy Pregnancy”). This should ideally be done for at least a month or two prior to conception. Milk thistle is a liver cleanser and the idea is that morning sickness is made worse by a stressed liver.
8.    High protein snacks at night, such as a few peanuts, or a drink of milk. Also try this first thing in the morning before getting out of bed.
9.    Peppermint essential oil (I recommend only Young Living therapeutic grade oils) dropped into a glass of water or 1 drop under the tongue followed by a glass of cold water. Or put peppermint oil on a tissue and deeply inhale for a few minutes right under your nose.
10.    Some people recommend eating a lot of protein to manage morning sickness, and others say that you should stay away from too much protein and especially dairy products. Try both and see which one works for you.
11.    Herbs that may help – catnip, dandelion, peppermint, and red raspberry leaf.
12.    Make sure you are drinking plenty of water.
13.    Try taking cod liver oil twice a day – the flavored kind is fine if that is easier for you to take.

Author: Brenda Minica, CD (CBI) – All rights reserved.