In sickness and in health

head_ache Morning sickness is the curse of early pregnancy. Pat Thomas offers some natural remedies

Nausea, occasional vomiting, tiredness and lethargy are a normal but nasty part of the first few months of pregnancy. Although these symptoms are commonly known as ‘morning sickness’, it’s not an apt name since it doesn’t always happen in the morning and it isn’t really a sickness.

No one understands exactly what causes it, but there are many factors known to contribute to morning sickness, including low blood sugar, low blood pressure, hormonal changes, nutritional deficiencies (especially in vitamin B6 and iron), and even nutritional excess (especially of spicy, sugary and refined foods).

While nausea may feel like a pointless and punishing experience, a study earlier this year at Cornell University in New York suggested that morning sickness may have a helpful function. When researchers analysed different studies involving over 80,000 pregnancies they found that nausea and vomiting are most common just after your baby has gone through its most sensitive development period (also common at this time are aversions to certain foods – usually meat, fish, eggs, poultry and strong tasting vegetables).

Nausea and vomiting, said the researchers, may be your body’s way of getting rid of potentially harmful chemicals and bacteria and keeping the woman and her baby safe from food-borne and other types of illness. As if to underscore the point, the researchers also found that in cultures where the diet is mainly vegetarian, and where dairy foods are not staples, morning sickness is uncommon.

Many women worry that morning sickness is a sign of something wrong with their babies. This is not the case. [Quite the opposite, in fact]: a study, published this year in the Journal - Obstetrics and Gynaecology observed that morning sickness is associated with better pregnancy outcomes, decreased risk of miscarriage, pre-term birth, low birth weight and perinatal death. Researchers believe, though they don’t yet know how, morning sickness may support the healthy growth of the placenta – your baby’s lifeline while it is inside you.

Reassuring maybe, but it’s no immediate help when you’re feeling miserable. Over the years doctors have tried many medical solutions to morning sickness. One of the most devastating was Thalidomide, which caused severe deformities in the babies whose mothers took it. Since that time doctors and midwives have been reluctant to prescribe drugs (which are often not that effective anyway) for the transient nausea so common in early pregnancy. Most women are also reluctant to take drugs at this time, opting for natural methods if they can.

Severe nausea accompanied by relentless vomiting requires medical help because this can dehydrate and rob your body of essential nutrients. For common nausea, experienced by 60 per cent of pregnant women, you could try some of the following self-help remedies and see which work best for you.

  • Try taking two or three teaspoons of apple cider vinegar (not any other kind) in warm water first thing in the morning. Apple cider vinegar is pH neutral and may help to neutralise excess stomach acid.
  • Ginger tea can be used freely to help. Ginger has been thoroughly researched over the years. A recent review of scientific evidence, published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, found that ginger was beneficial in treating all kinds of nausea. To make a tea, pour boiling water over a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger root. You can also add the juice of half a lemon and sweeten with honey if you like. In winter it’s a warmer, in the summer it can be a refreshing iced tea. This mix has the bonus of helping to ward off low blood sugar, headaches and fatigue as well as relieving nausea.
  • If you are out of the house and can’t brew up, any food item containing ginger should help. Some women swear by stale ginger ale, others prefer the crystallised ginger available in some specialist cook shops. Others use it liberally in cooking in both sweet and savoury dishes.
  • Acupressure can also be very effective. Several recent studies, including those published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Journal of Nurse Midwifery, show that pressure on the pericardium 6 (or P6) point can provide fairly quick relief from nausea, though it may not help to reduce vomiting. To find this point place your hand palm up and measure two thumb widths above the most prominent wrist crease; P6 is just above this point, in line with your middle finger. Some chemists sell wristbands, which stimulate the P6 point. These have also been shown to work for some women.

  • During pregnancy your needs for B6, B12, folic acid, zinc and iron will all increase. Adequate amounts of these nutrients are probably enough to ward off the nausea associated with pregnancy. If you are feeling very ill early in pregnancy, extra supplements of B6 in the region of 100mg daily may be needed. You may also require B12 in 50mcg doses daily. Symptoms should usually disappear within a week or two, in which case you should consider halving your dose. Zinc deficiency is also implicated in pregnancy nausea – aim for 20mg daily.
Homeopathic remedies

These preparations may be helpful and are available in chemist and health food shops:

Ipecacuanha 6. For nausea accompanied by hot or cold, clammy perspiration and retching. Or, if you feel better for open air, cool conditions, rest and keeping still, but worse for excessive heat, damp weather, after vomiting, movement and strong smells.

Colchicum 6C. If you crave food but feel nauseous, feel better when bending forward but are worse in the evenings, with the smell of food, after mental exertion or loss of sleep.

Natrum mur 6C. If you are vomiting frothy mucous, craving salt and thirsty. If you are better for being in the open air, taking rest, going without regular meals, peace and quiet; but worse in the late morning, hot atmospheres, dampness, after mental exertion, eating fatty or starchy food, with noise, music, touch or pressure.

Sepia 6C. If you’re vomiting, irritable, exhausted, indifferent and have hot flushes. If your symptoms are better for exercise, keeping busy, elevating your legs, eating small amounts and getting fresh air, but worse during the afternoon or with the smell of food, fasting and the emotional demands of others.

For most women these symptoms disappear after the first few months. However, for some, especially those expecting twins, they can last throughout pregnancy. If nausea reappears during the last few weeks before birth, it can be because your growing uterus is putting pressure on your stomach making digestion more difficult.

Whatever method you choose to help deal with morning sickness, make sure you get adequate rest during the first few months of pregnancy and try relaxing practices such as meditation and yoga, both of which involve deep regular breathing.

While starvation may seem like the obvious answer to nausea, you will be denying yourself and your growing baby important nutrients at a time when you both need them most. So instead try sticking to fresh wholefoods and ‘grazing’ – eating small frequent meals – instead of tucking into three big meals a day. These simple but important measures will help support your body as it goes through the enormous and inevitable changes which pregnancy brings.