What Is The Cure To Morning Sickness?

There is no cure for morning sickness (don’t mean to disappoint you, however, keep reading)—that uncomfortable and disruptive queasiness, nausea, and vomiting that so often herald the “joyful event” that is pregnancy.

It cannot be cured because although it is a disorder, it is not really a disease.

In fact, some women never get morning sickness. Some women experience mild symptoms for a few weeks. Some women are sick for 3, 6 or even the whole 9 months. What happens to any particular individual seems to depend on a combination of factors—including genetics (morning sickness runs in families), and whether you are particularly susceptible to nausea in general. If you are prone to vertigo, motion sickness, or digestive disorders associated with nausea, you are probably much more likely to develop nausea during pregnancy. Having very highly developed taste buds or sensitivity to odors is also associated with the occurrence of nausea during pregnancy.

Nausea associated with pregnancy is believed to be caused by the increased levels of estrogen and progesterone and the introduction of a new hormone, hCG, in the mother’s body, which are all essential to the health and development of the fetus. These hormones protect the fetus directly and apparently trigger nausea and food aversions in the mother, possibly also for protective reasons. One increasingly popular view holds that temporary taste aversions and the inability to eat and keep down certain foods are actually the body’s way of preventing and eliminating potentially harmful substances in certain foods, particularly red meats and highly flavorful or spicy ingredients, from affecting both mother and child. Both the embryo and the expectant mother have lowered immune responses—in the child because the immune system is not yet fully developed, and in the mother to prevent her immune systems from rejecting the child. This view that morning sickness is protective is supported by the observation that women who suffer from pregnancy nausea are statistically less likely to experience miscarriages.

If the protective theory of morning sickness is right, then as long as the symptoms remains within a normal range and do not lead to malnutrition or dehydration, nausea and vomiting during pregnancy should probably be regarded as a normal and inevitable part of a healthy pregnancy.

But while morning sickness apparently cannot be and possibly should not be “cured,” it can very often be treated quite successfully to reduce its severity and interference with your ability to live and work normally during your pregnancy. The sensible goal for most pregnant women is not to “cure” but to “manage” morning sickness.

The basic guidelines for reducing pregnancy nausea include:

• Eat smaller meals more frequently, to reduce stress on the stomach and digestive tract.
• Keep some bland, dry foods, such as crackers and high-protein snacks, at hand to help settle the stomach, especially in the morning when you get up.
• Avoid foods that are very spicy or high in fat.
• If certain odors, foods or drinks (e.g. caffeine) make you nauseous, avoid them.
• If you have been taking iron supplements, discontinue them, as they are known to contribute to nausea.
• Drink small amounts of water and fluids that restore electrolytes and protein continually throughout the day.
• Rest in bed or lie down when you are tired or feel nauseous.

If these measures don’t significantly help your symptoms, there are a number of “alternative” treatments that are not completely proven but have some scientific support:

• Vitamin supplements—multivitamins or vitamin B6 specifically
• Ginger taken in food, liquid infusions, or ground ginger capsules.
• Acupressure and/or acustimulation of a point on the wrist known as the P6 point. Several different types of wristbands are available.

In extreme and persistent cases, pregnancy nausea can lead to dehydration and nutritional deficiencies that require medical treatment, including anti-emetic drugs, bed rest, hospitalization, and IV fluids. But for the majority of women, the best approach is to understand why your body is behaving this way and how you can best accommodate your morning sickness while it lasts, rather than hoping to cure it.

And Now that you have learned about a cure to morning sickness and are ready for some in depth details on alleviating morning sickness, then it is time to go grab your copy of “What Every Pregnant Woman Must Know: Alleviating Morning Sickness” here: Nausea Late Pregnancy – you will be glad you did!