Morning sickness is a common symptom of pregnancy. In fact, more than half of all pregnant women will experience morning sickness at some time or another. While it’s most common during the first trimester, morning sickness can occur at any time of the day at any point during pregnancy.
Importance of Eating Often
Eating small meals every three hours throughout the day can help prevent morning sickness. Always having something in your stomach can minimize nausea during pregnancy. When your stomach is empty, acid can build up and irritate it, which can result in nausea and heartburn. Eating often can also help to stabilize blood sugar and prevent low blood sugar, which can trigger nausea.
Foods to Eat
Eating foods that are easy to digest can help to keep morning sickness symptoms at bay. Easy-to-digest foods tend to be bland foods that are high in carbohydrates and low in fat. These foods include soda crackers, toast, bagels, rice, pretzels, cereals and pastas.
Foods to Avoid
Greasy, spicy and fatty foods tend to trigger morning sickness. Avoid foods that are deep fried, like chicken fingers and french fries, to prevent pregnancy-related nausea. Greasy foods, like burgers, and fatty foods, like bacon, can also cause nausea. Since pregnant women are extremely sensitive to smell, any foods that trigger nausea should be avoided.
Treating Morning Sickness with Food
Eating certain foods can help relieve morning sickness symptoms. Eating ginger or ginger candy can help to settle an upset stomach. Sucking on lemons can have the same effect. Drinking real ginger ale can also relieve nausea and settle a queasy stomach. Salty foods, like potato chips, work wonders to calm the stomach enough so that more nutritious foods can be eaten.
Warning
If you are unable to eat or keep foods down due to morning sickness, you should contact your healthcare provider. Excessive morning sickness can lead to dehydration, weight loss and may require medical treatment. While mild forms of morning sickness can be treated with antacids, more serious bouts of morning sickness may require intravenous fluids.
