Guide to Reducing and Preventing Sickness

Morning sickness is not harmful to you or your baby, but if you experience excessive vomiting and cannot manage to keep your food down, you may have hypertensives gravid arum.

In fact, over 50% of pregnant women have experienced morning sickness.

Hyperemesis gravidarum can be harmful to you and your baby if severe and left untreated due to the possible lack of nutrients and electrolyte imbalances. The most important thing is to inform your doctor when these symptoms appear and discuss possible treatment options.

Many doctors think morning sickness is a good sign because it means the placenta is developing well, but that doesn’t mean that symptoms can’t be treated.

We have compiled a list of Do’s and Don’ts to help manage morning sickness through the first trimester:

Do’s and Don’ts of Morning Sickness Prevention:

Do:

• Eat a piece of bread or a few crackers before getting out of bed in the morning or when nauseated, then rest quietly for a while
• Eat small amounts of food every 2-3 hours
• Eat slowly
• Drink soups and other liquids between meals, rather than with meals, so as not to overly distend the stomach and trigger vomiting
• Eat lightly seasoned foods, but salt to taste
• Try ginger products: ginger ale, pickled ginger, and ginger preserves should have a calming effect on the stomach
• Eat dill pickles. Some find dill to have a calming effect and to be soothing to the stomach
• Suck on Atomic Fireball candies
• Eat low-fat protein foods

Don’t:

• Don’t let your stomach get empty
• Don’t overeat
• Don’t drink water and/or other fluids before breakfast
• Don’t drink caffeine and carbonated beverages
• Don’t consume greasy or fried food, which may produce nausea because they are hard to digest (Even the aroma from cooking such foods for others can cause nausea)
• Don’t lie down after eating
• Don’t let nausea go untreated

Additionally, try eating peanut butter on apple slices or celery, cheese and crackers, cottage cheese, yogurt sprinkled with granola, ½ or ¼ sandwich, lean meat, broiled or canned fish, poultry without skin, eggs, boiled beans, and easily digested carbohydrates such as fruit, fruit juices, breads, cereals, rice, pasta, potatoes. Such foods provide important nutrients (including B vitamins) and may help prevent low blood sugar, which can cause nausea.

You Should Contact Your Doctor if:

• you are experiencing excessive nausea and vomiting that prevents you from keeping any food down
• vomiting is accompanied by pain or fever
• nausea and vomiting persists well into the second trimester (after 12th week)