Top Morning Sickness Cures & Quick Fixes

Stop morning sickness in its tracks with these top 10 quick fixes

Congratulations on becoming a soon-to-be Sassy Mama! All the phone calls, texts and well-wishing emails are probably rolling in every minute. However, before you can truly enjoy the beautiful journey of pregnancy, you may have to tackle the annoying presence of morning sickness.

Entering your first trimester, you might begin to feel queasy in the stomach or be unable to hold food down for long. Most morning sickness symptoms begin during week 4 and should be gone by week 12.

To make these few weeks as painless and short as possible, try out some of these at-home remedies and morning sickness cures to alleviate the discomfort.

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Lead image by Philippe Put via Flickr

Living in Asia, ginger is always a holy grail cure for any type of stomach discomfort, and there’s a reason for it. Ginger promotes the secretion of different digestive enzymes, which helps neutralise the stomach acid. It also can relax stomach muscles, reducing over-activity in the stomach. Try adding a slice of ginger into your hot tea or water, chew on ginger candies, sip on flat ginger ale (bubbles can stimulate more discomfort), or grate some into your soup or even rice! Someone even suggested to microwave ginger jam and drizzling it over vanilla ice cream!

You may find that your sense of smell has suddenly become comparable to a hound dog, with the slightest whiff of musky perfume or Indian curry from someone’s lunch on the other side of the office causing you to run to the bathroom. Estrogen is the hormone responsible for your sense of smell, so when you are pregnant, your sensitive nose will definitely irk you. If you are unable to walk away, carry around a small satchel of dried herbs like lavender and thyme, or a handkerchief in a similar soothing scent.

You know those bands you see people wear to avoid seasickness, they can be very effective for morning sickness too! It’s used to add pressure on an anti-nausea pressure point on your wrist (which is the inside of your forearm about 10 cm from your wrist). They are so easy to find, just pop by a local pharmacy and give it a go.

We all know that we have to be drinking at least 6-8 cups of water a day, but this is especially important during periods of nausea. The more dehydrated you get, the more nauseated you will feel. If you need to change things up a bit, instead of just drinking glasses of water, you can try crunching on ice cubes or eating fruits and vegetables that are high in water content (melons, celery, grapes, frozen fruit bars).

When you’re nauseous, food is probably the last thing on your mind. But when your tummy is empty, your stomach acid only has your stomach lining to feed on, which will make things even worse. The best way to manage this is to graze or nibble on food throughout the day. Keep a stash of snacks at your bedside, like crackers, pretzels, dried fruits and nuts, to munch on especially when you get up and before you go to bed. It’ll help stabilise your blood sugar and make sure there’s always some food in your stomach.

Mint has the magic power to reduce your stomach’s gag reflex, minimising feelings of nausea. Make yourself a cup of peppermint tea when you feel a gagging urge creeping up on you. You could even make your own belly rub by using 1 drop of peppermint oil to 3 drops of chamomile oil. Place it directly on your belly or on a warm, damp towel and rub.

This tip might vary for each person, but mild exercise like going out for a walk in the park, or even down the street might help relieve the crazy hormonal activity going on inside. Obviously, if you can’t make the walk to the kitchen or living room from your bed without wanting to rush to the bathroom, stay in bed. But, on the days that you feel relatively normal, get some fresh air and sunshine, we guarantee you’ll feel happier!

This tip may not be welcomed with open arms, but research shows that taking supplements of Vitamin B6 and B12 will not harm your baby. A suggested dose of Vitamin B6 is 25mg, 3 times a day, and will really help lessen your nausea. Vitamin B12 will also help prevent further vomiting, and pregnant women are suggested to take 4mcg a day to 25 mcg twice a day. As you normally would with any type of vitamin or medicine, please consult your doctor before taking any sort of supplement.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Oddly enough, a lot of women find the scent and taste of lemons soothing. It’s true that pregnancy really does change you! Other kinds of citrus fruit like grapefruits, limes and oranges are also good options. Sniff a freshly-cut lemon, or add some citrus zest to your tea and water. Maybe even treat yourself to a pack of Sour Patch Kids!