Nausea and Vomiting of Early Pregnancy

Nausea and vomiting are common discomforts of early pregnancy, effecting between 50-80% of all pregnant women. While often referred to as morning sickness, the nausea and vomiting can occur at any time, and persist all throughout the day.

Many tips and remedies exist for relief. Unfortunately, no one solution exists for all women or even for one woman on a consistent basis. Each person must go through a period of trial and error to determine which remedy will work for her. You might want to try some of the following suggestions:

• Get plenty of rest
• Identify smells which trigger nausea and vomiting and avoid them.
• Acupressure wrist-bands designed to prevent motion sickness may help. Although they are commercially available as Sea-Bands, and BioBands, you can easily make your own. I think the ones you make work better.Ask Betsy Hyde CNM for directions if you are interested.
• Cold compresses to the forehead and neck may be soothing. This is also good for nausea and vomiting during labor.
• Try to exercise daily, even if this is the last thing you might want to do!
• Nausea occurs most often on an empty stomach, so try to eat small, frequent meals. What you eat isn't as important as how often you eat. A recent study from Boston found success in reducing and relieving symptoms when women were encouraged to eat whatever food or beverage they could bear to eat at the moment. The most effective solutions often fell into the category of junk food. Any calorie is a successful calorie during a nausea or vomiting crisis. Investigate salty, sour, bitter, sweet and tart alternatives.
• Ginger is an effective, and proven, remedy for nausea and motion sickness. Some sources say to avoid ginger if you have a history of miscarriage, but this has never been proven. We have not seen any problems with women who use ginger. Ginger capsules and ginger syrup may be found in health food stores. You can take 3-4 capsules whenever you feel queasy. Don't take more than 25 per day. Try ginger ale, but make sure it contains real ginger. Read the labels! Check out health food store brands. You can also try ginger tea (simmer 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger for 20 minutes. Add milk and honey to taste.
• Vitamin B6 25-50 mg two to three times a day. An injectable form of B6 is available in the office. Do not take more than 200 mg B6 each day. Don't worry if it makes your urine yellow.
• Raspberry leaf, peppermint, spearmint or peach leaf teas may help. Any of these herbs may be used separately or in combination. Drink 3 cups per day. Suck on a peppermint if very nauseated.
• Give really sour lemon drops a try.
• For nausea alone, try the homeopathic remedy nux vomica 6x. If vomiting too, try homeopathic ipecac 30X. Do not use regular ipecac syrup....this will really make you vomit!

The majority of women can find some relief from one or more of the above measures. Some women, however, may need medical support to prevent severe dehydration. Please contact us if you experience persistent vomiting and are unable to keep any fluids down for more than 24 hours. There are many prescription medications which we can try to help.

many thanks to Pat Sonnenstuhl, CNM for her contributions to this page

Obstetrics-Gynecology-Infertility Group, PC
203-562-5181