Morning sickness is one of the most common, yet annoying, pregnancy symptoms.
When the nausea strikes, we wish we could reach for any medication to cure the feeling. During pregnancy though, safe, natural solutions are often best to try first.
In this post, we’re outlining 16 best morning sickness relievers to use during pregnancy
16 Best Morning Sickness Relievers
Most of the morning sickness relief ideas on this list are natural and can be tried from home! Remember that every woman is different, so you may need to try a few solutions to see what works best for you.
#1 Carry a Pleasant Scent
Sometimes, you don’t know what will set off your morning sickness that day. It can be as simple as a whiff from a garbage can or a food that you hate. All a sudden, your stomach is turning and you can’t stop it. One way to put a plug in the scent right away is to carry a fragrance with you in your purse. As soon as a scent is making you queasy, open your fragrance and take a long, slow inhale. You can use a mini perfume sample or a small essential oil bottle. A scent like lavender, lemon or orange may help.
#2 Take a Ginger Capsule
Almost everyone knows that ginger is supposed to help stomach issues, but does it really? If you’re drinking a ginger soda, maybe not. But taking encapsulated ginger may help. In one study, researchers gave the first group of women a ginger capsule and the second group a placebo (fake/sugar pill). They found that the ginger minimized nausea and vomiting significantly more than the placebo. If you’re wondering how much to take, the sample used in the experiment was 250 mg for 4 days.
#3 Use Ginger Syrup
Another form of ginger that has been proven to help some women with nausea is ginger syrup. In one study, women were given a placebo or ginger syrup for their morning sickness. Researchers found that 10 out of 13 women in the syrup group improved while only 2 out of 10 in the placebo group had the same benefit. If you don’t have the product in your grocery store, you can buy it online or make your own. You can take ginger syrup by the spoon or drizzle it on fruits, salad, etc.
#4 Try Ginger Biscuits
If cookies seem to help your stomach, ginger biscuits may help even more. One study concluded that ginger biscuits were helpful in relieving the severity of nausea. And, to some extent, they may help relieve pregnancy vomiting. To see if it works for you, try brands that use real, natural ginger instead of artificial flavoring.
#5 Use a Morning Sickness Bands
Morning sickness bands, also called seasickness bands, work using acupressure. Specifically, these bands target the pericardium 6 pressure point or Nei Guan. This point is located on the inner side of your wrist where the band applies pressure to. It’s believed this point can alleviate nausea, headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Research shows that stimulating this area is a good trick to try when you’re feeling sick. In a 2001 study on pregnant women, researchers found that both “real” and “fake” bands improved nausea, but only the real bands continued to help women in the 14 days after. Other studies show the P6 point can help prevent vomiting and nausea in patients that have just had surgery.
After pregnancy, these all-natural bands can also be used for motion sickness from cars, planes, boats, gaming, etc.
Get Your Morning Sickness Band Today!
#6 Eat a Morning Sickness-Approved Snack
When you have morning sickness, perhaps the last thing you want to do is eat. However, having an empty stomach can make the sickness even worse. If you’re throwing up a lot and your stomach is empty, your queasiness could be from that instead of pregnancy hormones, making it hard to tell. That’s why it’s a good idea to eat frequent snacks, even if you feel sick.
If you’re having trouble choosing snacks that won’t make you feel worse, read 33 Satisfying Pregnancy Snacks Perfect for Morning Sickness.
#7 Drink Water
Another thing you probably don’t care to do when you’re feeling nauseous is drink water. Especially if you’re throwing up, it can be easy to get dehydrated. Unfortunately, being dehydrated can also cause nausea. So you could be mistaking your morning sickness for dehydration sickness, or it could be making your morning sickness even worse.
If you have trouble drinking enough water, read 17 Hydration Hacks: How to Keep Hydrated During Pregnancy.
#8 Take B6
Research suggests that B6 can help improve morning sickness nausea. A dose of 10 to 25mg 3 times a day may be recommended by a healthcare professional. Although there’s no evidence the supplement harms the fetus, talk to your doctor first. If you get the ok, B6 can be found in the supplement aisle of your drugstore.
#9 Stop Scrolling
You may not realize it, but the constant motion of scrolling combined with bright color and strobe effects can be affecting your stomach. This technology-induced sickness is termed “cybersickness.” Even if you never experienced it before, it may be making your nausea worse. Next time you feel sick, put down your phone and take a break from your computer to see if it helps. If you work on a computer and can’t avoid it, take some basic steps to minimize your sickness:
- Adjust monitor to reduce your eye strain
- Make the font bigger if you need to
- Reduce the brightness on screens
- Download an app like Fluxthat adjusts screen color to the time of day
- Take breaks where your eyes are forced to look long distance
#10 Preggie Pop Drops
These hard candies contain a variety of flavors meant to be sucked on when you’re feeling sick. Although it doesn’t contain any drugs and it isn’t clear why it works, many women swear by them (it has a 4.5/5 rating on Amazon with almost 7,000 reviews!). However, one pack is $13. Since there doesn’t seem to be any special ingredients, you might want to try sucking on a regular candy/lollipop first to see if it helps!
#11 Try Yoga
If you’re in a position to do so, try yoga the next time you feel queasy. The gentle movements may just rock away your sickness. You can search YouTube for “prenatal yoga classes” or you can try this 20 minute class on yoga specifically for morning sickness.
#12 Meditate
Sitting down and taking a few minutes to focus on your breath may help the dreaded feeling. If you’ve never meditated before, check out this quick tutorial on how to breathe through morning sickness.
#13 Nap
Although not an option every time you get morning sickness, take a nap when you can! Not only will it make the nausea lull off when you do, but you could use some extra ZZZ’s before your newborn all-nighters!
#14 Adjust Timing of Prenatal Vitamins
Many pregnant women can attest to their prenatal vitamins bringing on their nausea. It could be because of the large capsule size, taste or aftertaste. One workaround is adjusting the time you take them. For example, if you always get morning sickness in the morning, try taking your vitamins in the afternoon or evening instead. While it may not cure your nausea, it may minimize it in the times it’s typically worse.
#15 Distract Yourself
Sometimes, no matter what you try to relieve your nausea, it doesn’t work. In these cases, you just need to ride out the waves. To make that less dreadful, it’s a good idea to distract yourself so you have something else to focus on. It’s helpful to have a list of activities ready to choose from when you need to mentally be somewhere else. Whether you stand, sit or lay down, here’s some options for nausea distractions:
- Watch TV
- Close your eyes and listen to a podcast or audiobook
- Do a crossword or sudoku puzzle
- Have your partner give you a massage
- Read a book or magazine
- Pet your pet
#16 Talk to Your Doctor
Morning sickness is a normal part of pregnancy that most women experience. However, in severe cases, it may require treatment. Talk to your doctor about how frequently you’re feeling nauseated and vomiting. He or she may recommend a prescription medication, many of which are safe during pregnancy.
Summary of Morning Sickness Relief
Just because morning sickness is a common pregnancy side effect doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything about it. If feeling nauseated and vomiting is wrecking your day, try a few ideas on the list above. If all else fails, contact your doctor and ask about your options for prescription nausea medication.
Feel Normal Again. Try a Morning Sickness Band Today!