The dreaded ‘morning sickness’, extreme nausea and vomiting, will affect around 90% of pregnant women. Just why certain women have to go through this is not known, but there are some things you can do to minimize this unpleasant part of pregnancy: Check out these tips below to help reduce or manage morning sickness.
- Eat foods rich in the B vitamins: examples are nuts, chicken, fish, liver, and avocados.
- Take frequent sips of liquids such as water, soup, tea, and lemonade. This can help in two ways: when you vomit you lose a lot of fluids and it is important to keep your body hydrated at all times, and it also makes vomiting less unpleasant if you have something to bring up. Vomiting when the stomach is empty is even more unpleasant than when you have something to bring up.
- Avoid foods with strong smells such as spicy or fried foods as such dishes can make you feel queasy and induce vomiting.
- Snack little and often. When you go to bed place biscuits or muffins at your bedside and nibble these if you wake in the night.
- Foods high in carbohydrates are more likely to stay down and will ward off hunger. Recommended foods are bread, rice, and pasta.
- If you don’t feel like eating, don’t. If eating will make you feel queasy and cause you to vomit, there is no point. You will not benefit nutritionally if the food comes right back up.
Morning sickness is the least enjoyable part of being pregnant. How long it lasts varies from woman to woman. Just keep reminding yourself that it will end and the reward will be so worth it. Always inform your doctor if you are experiencing these symptoms.
