Fun fact: more than 90 per cent of women experience nausea during pregnancy, so you're definitely not alone. With symptoms including, feeling tired all the time and extreme nausea, morning sickness can feel very debilitating, especially if you have work and/or public transport to contend with. That's where morning sickness remedies recommendations come in.
To help you feel better, we've rounded up the best morning sickness remedies for you to try, including the experiences of our panel of mums and what worked for them.
What is morning sickness?
When you're pregnant, your body starts producing a hormone called hCG in large quantities. It gives your baby all the nutrients it needs in those first early weeks. The side effects of the hormone can cause you to feel weak and poorly. But be rest assured, once the placenta takes over, your hCG levels should drop and your morning sickness will ease off, too.
The best morning sickness remedies
Ginger supplements
Ginger has a long history as a cure for upset stomachs. One of its active compounds, 6-gingerol, is known to help relax gastrointestinal muscles, and research has shown that ginger supplements can ease morning sickness.
However, keep in mind that how effective they are will depend on how sensitive you are to certain smells and flavours. If you're wincing at the smell, then ginger may make your symptoms worse or give you heartburn. In any case, check with your GP before taking any supplements during pregnancy. Ginger in other forms works, too, such as fresh ginger tea or, as #mumtribe Mumma, Jill, says "ginger biscuits were [her] fave" when suffering with morning sickness.
Vitamin B6
Taking a little extra vitamin B6, in the form of supplements, has been shown to reduce morning sickness symptoms in some mums-to-be. Doctors recommend 25mg of vitamin B6, three times a day, in addition to your prenatal vitamins.
Acupressure bracelets
These are often called 'sea bands' or 'morning sickness relief bands'. You might remember being given them by your mum on long car journeys to help car sickness. But, guess what? They are equally as effective for morning sickness, as it's all about applying gentle pressure on the balls of your wrist to hit certain nerve centres in the body. When you experience a wave of nausea, press on the button on each wrist 20 to 30 times. The sensation should be relaxing and make you feel less sick.
"I swear by the seasick travel bands. They helped me with both my pregnancies. I recommend them to everyone," said Katie.
"I used the travel sickness bands that go on your wrists." Lauren goes on to add, "I found they made a big difference and helped settle that constant queasy feeling in my stomach!"
Over-the-counter heartburn medication
Research has shown that most OTC heartburn medications are safe during pregnancy and can help ease morning sickness. For example, you can buy Omeprazole over-the-counter in 10mg doses. Always ask the pharmacist if what you're buying is safe to take while pregnant, and avoid any medication that contains aspirin.
DIY aromatherapy
Do your own form of aromatherapy by having a relaxing bath with one of the following essential oils, that have been shown to ease nausea and calm your stomach:
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Lime
• Lemon
• Mandarin
Change your eating patterns
Eat plain foods, little and often. Anything fried, rich or spicy could trigger your nausea, so stick to potatoes, pasta, rice and dry crackers when your morning sickness is at its worst in the first trimester. Also, protein-rich foods such as nuts, that are rich in vitamin B, are great to add to your diet. Sip plain water or lemon juice in between to stay hydrated. For more snacks and drinks that can help, read our detailed article here.
Reflexology
Some complementary therapies, such as reflexology, may help you to cope with morning sickness. Reflexology follows the principle that your feet represent a map of your body and certain pressure points are related to different bodily organs. The point located below the ball of the foot corresponds to the stomach, and if massaged correctly, can considerably ease nausea for some women.
If reflexology doesn't work for you, it is certainly relaxing and an enjoyable treatment. Make sure you go to a qualified therapist, experienced in treating pregnant women.
Soothing music and pulsations app
There are certain phone apps that are specially designed to ease morning sickness using sounds, pulsations and soothing music. One example is Nevasic, described as 'a uniquely engineered audio program that eliminates the symptoms of sickness'. This app has proven to be a great success with a number of women. Play it around the house or in the car stereo while driving.
Discover the best morning sickness remedies
Description
Are you looking for a natural remedy to help with your morning sickness? The natural ingredients in these drops will help ease a queasy tummy.
Review: "After having really bad sickness these seem to have helped, it hasn't disappeared but definitely has reduced it. The best flavour was green for me, but there was only two green in my pack. Flavours are nice, just keep sucking. If you're sick, put the drop in a tissue and then you can keep sucking later, you will get through it."
Description
It's time to look after yourself and enjoy your pregnancy. Don't let morning sickness get in the way of this precious time - invest in a pair of acupressure morning sickness relief wristbands. They'll relieve nausea while being kind to your body. We love it!
Review: "These have literally saved my sister-in-law with her HG (hyperemesis gravidarum), they’ve changed her whole pregnancy. She can eat and keep food down; when they’re on, she doesn’t throw up. They were suggested by a friend and after being hospitalised for the third time, she asked me to get them and the effects were instant.
"She takes them off to sleep and if she doesn’t put them on quick enough in the morning she’ll go right back to throwing up every couple of minutes. I also brought a pair for me for travel sickness and I managed to make a four-hour car journey without feeling sick or being sick."
Description
This midwife developed Sick of It Spritz is a gentle blend of peppermint, lemon and grapefruit essential oils whose properties are known to help manage some of those feelings of sickness and nausea.
Review: "This really does help! I used it throughout my pregnancy and even when I was in labour as I had very bad sickness in the early stage of labour."
www.notonthehighstreet.com
Description
Any quick and easy way to prevent morning sickness is a blessing. Whether you keep this on your bedside table or at the bottom of your bag, the handy roller ball's ginger, spearmint, peppermint, benzoin and lavender essence will help you feel better in no time.
Review: "Very pleasant to use and eased my morning sickness! Definitely worth buying!"
myrtleandmaude.com
Description
Right now, the thought of eating anything might be making your stomach turn, but these melt in your mouth bon-bons formulated with natural peppermint oil will turn it around. Not only do they prevent you from feeling queasy, but they help boost your energy. The best thing of all, they're natural and certified vegan.
Review: "My partner loves these, she is eight weeks pregnant and had terrible morning sickness. At least 20 times a day... It was a nightmare for her but these sweets helped neutralise the urgency to vomit and suppressed her nausea quite effectively."
Description
Containing Vitamins B6, B12, C, and natural ginger root extract, this pack of 60 melts (one month's supply) can help to alleviate morning sickness symptoms and reduce the feeling of tiredness and fatigue.
Review: "These ginger melts are good. I’d give them a thumbs up definitely as they help to calm symptoms. They’re hydrating and nice tasting. They also help to sooth after sickness."
www.etsy.com
Description
We're all about this anti-morning sickness bracelet. Just like the previous wristbands we mentioned, this focuses on acupressure but is a lot more discreet and stylish.
Review: "Super cute gift for a pregnant friend who needed a pick me up."
www.notonthehighstreet.com
Description
Morning Mama from Bloom and Bambi is a refreshing balanced blend of ginger and citrus with a hint of mint to offer relief from nausea for pregnancy mums. It can also help to balance and support digestion, great if you're experiencing digestive issues in pregnancy too.
More morning sickness remedies recommended by real-mums
We asked our #mumtribe community of mums on Facebook what helped their morning sickness and here are some of our favourite answers:
Fiona Clewer: "I started with morning sickness at week nine and was still being sick a couple of hours after having my baby boy and the only thing that ever made any difference (and only worked sometimes) was sipping ginger beer. Even water made me vomit."
Patrice McDonald: "Dry cream crackers helped... Plus, crystallised ginger (easier to cope with than raw ginger). I later asked the GP for anti-sickness tablets, but in the end, they prescribed antacids which really helped (much better than just drinking Gaviscon by the bottle)."
Rachel Train: "It’s trial and error. I had sickness with all my three pregnancies and I found eating plain food regularly helped me. Marmite sandwiches on white bread were my saviour from starvation, and plain baked potatoes, cream crackers and rich tea biscuits. Sucking on mints helped with nausea. And I found a tummy settling tea that did actually help."
Holly Ashton: "I was sick for months and nothing really helped. Even anti-sickness tablets from the doctors! After trying all the tricks, the only thing that seemed to keep it at bay at all was eating a little and often. Including having biscuits and dry cornflakes by my bed so I could munch through the night too."
Tanya Harrison: "I had morning sickness when we first moved into our house. Our first parcel to arrive was a giant box of 48 ham and mustard flavour crisps, which my husband thought was a mistake. It was the only thing that would cure my morning sickness."
Laura Davies: "Water from the fridge with chopped up lemons in it and those butterscotch sugar-free sweets you can get from Aldi. Lifesaving!"