8 Natural Ways to Help with Morning Sickness

Morning sickness is the worst. I’ve had four, full term pregnancies. With my two boys, I had morning sickness for the first four months. With my two girls I had morning sickness for almost the entirety of the pregnancy. It can be debilitating. I used to live off of Zofran because it was the only thing that worked for me. By my third pregnancy, they no longer offered Zofran to pregnant women. I then had to figure out how to stave off nausea without medication. Below are the things most helpful for me!

1. Ginger

I’ll be the first to say that ginger is not at all my favorite anti-nausea supplement. I actually dislike the taste of ginger, but I have had people swear up and down about the effects of ginger during their pregnancies, specifically these ginger chews. So, if you like the taste of ginger, please consider these as an all natural option to mitigating morning sickness!

2. Citrus

Citrus was a life saver for me. With my first pregnancy, my morning sickness was awful and I chose to take a cruise. Morning sickness coupled with the nice, constant rocking of the boat kept me feeling sick 24/7. The only thing that helped was eating grapefruit and because of that, I craved it constantly. With each pregnancy following my first, I had orange and lemon scents around my home, whether it was cleaning with lemon essential oil or throwing orange peels into the garbage disposal, every time I smelled citrus it alleviated the nausea. I would also suck on lemon candy to help. I think one of the best options is to use citrus essential oils and diffuse them throughout the house. They are already known to improve mood, and the smell will keep you from putting your head in the toilet!

3. Mint

Mint is usually not one of my favorite aromas. However, while pregnant, I found it helped tremendously is keeping my nausea at bay. I kept a small bottle of peppermint essential oil next to my bed so that if I woke up with nausea, all I had to do was open the bottle and sniff it. Poof, instant nausea relief. I also kept mint candy in my purse and if I was hungry and the nausea starting to creep up on me, I would suck on one and instantly feel better. I always had mints on me because I had morning sickness throughout the majority of my pregnancy. I’m telling you, mint has been awesome. It’s cheap and easy to try it out!

4. Preggy Pops

Preggy pops are awesome! They are the perfect natural solution to morning sickness. Like the flavors and scents above, preggy pops come in many flavors that have been shown to help with nausea (most of them citrus). The ones below have B-12 vitamins that have also been shown to help with morning sickness. They are life savers in between meals or if you’re on the go. Along with mints, throw them in your purse just in case you are too busy to sit down for an actual meal.

5. Nausea Bands

I think the most popular nausea band out there is the sea band. There are tons of different types, but basically, what they do is acupressure on the pressure point of your wrist which has been proven to relieve nausea. There are very pricey ones like the relief band below.

And there are reasonably priced ones like the Sea Band.

Both work to different degrees. Depending upon how much relief you need or how sensitive you are to acupressure, will dictate how well they work. I used the sea band and it helped incrementally. It did not completely relieve the nausea, but it did lesson the symptoms.

Related Reading: My Home Birth Story

6. Unisom / B-12 Combo

The unisom/b-12 combo was suggested by my midwife. It’s basically what’s in the formula for diclegis, which is an incredibly expensive new drug on the market to aid in mitigating nausea. It has an antihistamine and B-12 combined into one pill. If you can’t afford or your insurance doesn’t cover diclegis, consider taking Unisom with a b-12 vitamin before bed. Not only will it help you sleep, you’ll also feel less nauseated in the morning!

7. Small, Consistent Meals

Okay, here’s the dilemma ladies: you begin to feel hungry, but you’re too nauseated to eat, but the lack of food is actually making you feel more nauseated, until eventually you throw up. It’s a horrible vicious cycle that we all want to end. The absolute best thing to do is to snack on tiny meals throughout the day. Eat whatever you can keep down and continue to eat in tiny increments. It will help keep nausea at bay. I use these awesome reusable snack bags (because reusable is always better than throwing things away)!

8. Water, Water, Water

Just like constant meals, growing a baby means you need constant water as well. We need the water to grow placenta, provide amniotic fluid and grow our beautiful babies. Sometimes our nausea is actually a sign from our body that we need to take in more fluid! Please drink small amounts of water consistently, throughout the day. This will help tremendously with your nausea. Buy yourself a water bottle and stick it in your purse. I use a glass bottle with silicone wrapping because I don’t really like plastic. 

And there you have it. Not all options work for all people, but I’m confident one of these options will work for you. Try them out and hopefully you will garner a sigh of relief from morning sickness.