Nausea and Vomitting during pregnancy

What to Eat When You Are Feeling Nauseous
-- By Karen Gardner, Parenting Writer

According to the Mayo Clinic, over 70% of all expectant mothers experience nausea and vomiting during the first trimester of their pregnancy. That’s the bad news; the good news is that there are some foods that have been proven to have a soothing effect on nausea, making those early childbearing days more tolerable.

Ginger
A recent report in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has confirmed that ginger can help manage morning sickness in the first four months of pregnancy. This is something Dr. Susan Lanni has known all along. Dr. Lanni, an assistant professor of maternal fetal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center recommends a variety of non-pharmaceutical solutions for her obstetrical clients, and ginger is among them.

“Ginger is absorbed into the G. I. tract, and it works quite well on low-grade nausea,” says Lanni. “You can get ginger in a million different forms. Women can put a slice of fresh ginger between their cheek and gum and chew on it throughout the day or they can nibble on small pieces of crystallized ginger. They can also go to a Chinese food store and get a container of pickled ginger, which is moist and has a very stomach soothing effect.”

Women suffering with morning sickness might consider starting their day with cold or hot cereal topped with crystallized ginger slices, whole-wheat toast topped with ginger jam, or a cup of tea made from steeped fresh ginger slices, honey and lemon.

Nausea Breaking Foods
“I tell my patients they can eat anything that doesn’t have a skull and crossbones on it,” says Miriam Erick, a perinatal dietician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It would be great if I could get them to eat something really healthy, but a lot of times they just need nausea breaking foods, something to break the cycle.” Erick, author of Managing Morning Sickness: A Survival Guide for Pregnant Women, considers morning sickness a very individual condition with different phases.

“When she feels fine, a woman might ask for something completely different than she would when her nausea is worse,” says Erick. “Therefore, the pickier a woman can be at that point in time, the more you are looking at the solution as opposed to something that isn’t going to work or something I think she should eat.”

To help women identify what foods relieve their individual nausea, Erick came up with a list of adjectives to describe foods and the sensations they create. The list includes salty, sour, bitter, sweet, crunchy, fruity, wet, dry, hot, cold, bland, mushy, earthy, spicy, and fizzy. When a woman is asked what she wants in terms of the list, her answer is typically the food that will break that particular cycle of nausea.

Mother Approved
As every woman’s morning sickness is different, so are the foods that relieve it. Listed here are some foods that go outside the cracker box, and have reportedly brought comfort to nauseous moms-to-be.

• Potato Chips
• Lemons
• Lemonade
• Gelatin
• Watermelon
• Raspberry tea
• Ginger snaps
• Avocado
• Popsicles
• Graham crackers
• Yogurt
• Peppermint
• Baked potatoes
• Rice Cakes

 

Thanks Sonia and Cheer

I will most certainly follow the advise... thanks a lot... if you think of anything else please don't hesistate to add... thanks again

 

Thanks Cheer and Sonia

These could be really helpful for my cousin Arshi, she is now in her third month, though I thought I am going to be the best teacher, but after finding this, I am so happy................

 

Tablets for trimester vomitting?

I am in my 8th week.and I have severe vomitting.When i called my doctor she prescribed some pills for it.But my mom is against taking tablets.I took the tablet for a day.It gives me more relief but it makes me sleep a lot.

Can i continue the tablets?Will it afftect the baby?

Please suggest.

 

Re: Tablets for trimester vomitting?

Hi Cathy, Congratulations to you.

I too feel little vomiting sometime, I try to divert and make myself busy and I just have a glass of water or something to eat. I try to avoid unnecessary medicine.

My sister is Gynecologist, she herself prescribed me some tabs for nausea, vomiting. And advised me there is no harm to take these if you can’t tolerate.

Regards,

 

Re: Tablets for trimester vomitting?

Thanks a lot.

Water makes me feel worse in vomitting. so i avoid drinking water until afternoon.hmm..

Also my doctor told me to eat crackers in empty stomach (ie from the bed itself with out brushing) to avoid nausea.can you please ask your sister if i can eat crackers without even brushing?Usually germs will go only if we brush.If i eat the crackers the germs will also go inside rite.

 

Re: Tablets for trimester vomitting?

dear cathy,
i am sailing in same boat like you.i am 14 weeks preg & this heavy bout of vomitting started after 10 weeks only ( since i started taking iron tablets)
the doc has not prescribed any medicine till now as she is hoping once body get used to iron it may stop.
this is my second baby & during the first one the doc has prescribed a medicine to stop vomitting which i feel was the good thing.because then atleast i was able to eat food & keep it down also. now all i do is eat & then run to toilet .result is i am always tired ,feel weak & irritable.do not want to cook any thing as that cooking smell starts to make me feel nauseated.all i am surviving is on fruits.
also ,my doc also suggested to eat something right in the morning.as ,i brush in the night before going to sleep i feel mouth is all most clean .then i take a sip or two of water before eating the biscuits.

try to take more water -if not more atleast one sip at time every 10 -15 mins throughout the day.

 

Re: Tablets for trimester vomitting?

Oh good!!But the poor thing is that WATER is the main thing that makes me feel nauseated in the moring.I am not able to drink water until afternoon.Once if i drink either water or horlicks thats all i am done for that day..

so i drink warm milk with sugar and some cookies!!!Doctor told that i'll fine after first trimester.Hoping to feel better soon!!!

 

Re: Tablets for trimester vomitting?

Hi Cathy,

Do not worry. Nausea will most probably subsite after week 14. I am on week 16 and last week has definitelty been much better. Think that this is only a temporary issue and it will get over in 1.5 months, that will help you sail through the 14 week without much annoyance.

I was only surviving on bananas and curd rice for a month. Chewing omam or dry salted narthangai helped me a lot. You might have to do some research to see what makes you feel better.

Take care. Whatever you do, check with your doc first before taking any tablets.

 

Re: Tablets for trimester vomitting?

Thank you very much Geetha!!I am in my 9th week.Your words give me some kind of support.YES I CAN TOLERATE THIS FOR MY BABY:iagree.Atleast if i take vomitt once i feel myself very much relieved.If i take the tablet,vomitting completly arrests but that feeling still lives which is the most unacceptable one.So i stopped taking tablets for time being.

I had asked my mom to send dry salted Naarthangai from india thru one of my friends.Its on its way.

May god bless all of us!!