first trimester

Morning Sickness: Remedies, Suggestions & Research
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Morning Sickness: Remedies, Suggestions & Research

Please note: I am NOT affiliated with any of the mentioned companies, and I do not receive any sort of reimbursement from sharing their products other than occasional free samples that are sent to my office (which is how I was introduced to several of them!). Some of these companies have offered discount codes for my readers, and I’m passing those on when available, at no benefit to myself!

As a mom who has struggled with severe morning sickness with most of my pregnancies, I know from experience how incredibly difficult and challenging those first months can be when you feel so miserable! In fact, the mere thought of going through those early weeks and months of sickness makes me desperate to find some type of relief to try. Because of this, I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading any new research, thoughts and suggestions that I can get my hands on regarding combating morning sickness over the past couple of years. My hope with this post is to help you understand what might be going on under the surface, and to provide you with a number of suggestions and resources so that you can hopefully find something that works for you! I know each mom (and each pregnancy!) can respond differently, and that there is NO cure-all that works for everyone. But sometimes you find out about something that can make a difference, so my hope is that you might discover something new that can bring some relief to you as you nourish and carry that tiny baby that is already requiring so much from mama!

For the foundation, it’s important to be caring for your body BEFORE pregnancy whenever possible. If you haven’t done so, I would highly recommend that you take the time to read Real Food For Pregnancy by Lily Nichols. Having a high quality diet in place that is low in simple carbs and refined sugar and high in quality protein has made a big difference for many moms, but this provides the most help for morning sickness if this has been a way of life long before pregnancy. Along these same lines, taking the time to do a liver cleanse and possibly a candida cleanse have made a big difference in pregnancy health for moms.

Talking about the liver brings me to the first important suggestion for morning sickness relief, and that is LIVER HEALTH. As you know, a mom’s body works hard to support the massive amount of growth that is happening for baby during the first weeks after conception, and one of the organs under a lot of stress is the liver. It is fascinating to study into this more, and realize how gentle support of the liver can help alleviate the severity of morning sickness (you can read more about this here). A great way to provide liver support is through taking Milk Thistle twice a day (and if you are planning a pregnancy, start taking this a couple of months before pregnancy for even better success!). Some good Milk Thistle options are: Jarrow Milk Thistle  & Natural Hope Herbals Milk Thistle Tincture.  If you want more support (and possibly more success), consider taking a liver support complex such as the pregnancy-safe tincture from  Mountain Meadow Herbs Liver Glow II. This product from Earthly Wellness includes dandelion which is another herb that provides liver support, along with some additional herbs to aid in reducing nausea: Mama’s Tummy Relief (use code “gentlemidwife” for 10% off your first order from them!). Another form of liver support comes through the addition of lemons to your diet, which is most easily done by squeezing fresh lemon juice into your water that you sip on throughout the day (add some honey for a bit of a natural sugar boost!).

Another factor that can make morning sickness worse, and be especially problematic when a mama is vomiting often, is maintaining good hydration and electrolyte balance. Staying on top of this before it gets to the point of needing IV treatment is key, and one of the ways to help with this is having some high-quality electrolyte drinks available (that are not full of artificial flavors & dyes like Gatorade!). A few good choices that I’ve personally tasted an tested are: GoodOnYa Organic (this one tastes like delicious lemonade, yet it has only healthy ingredients: use the code “gentlemidwife” for 10% off + free shipping on your order!), Nectar (another organic, sugar-free option with multiple flavors), LMNT (available in several different flavors-you can purchase a sample mix on Amazon to get you started), and DripDrop. You can even make popsicles out of these electrolyte drinks in order to sip on them…just make it a priority to stay hydrated and prevent your electrolytes from orbiting out of order…we want to prevent the need for an IV or other intervention whenever possible!

A “newer” remedy that I am finding quite fascinating is that of additional magnesium supplementation for morning sickness relief. Here’s a couple of articles that go into more detail: Magnesium for Morning Sickness Relief, & Magnesium for Morning Sickness: My Story. If I have another baby, I’m definitely planning to try this idea! Besides swallowing pills or drinking magnesium-containing drinks (which many sick moms can’t handle), a few ways to supplement with magnesium that might be easier on your stomach are creams and sprays. Pink Stork carries this  Magnesium Spray for Morning Sickness, and a local company that I highly recommend carries this cream: Shade Mt. Naturals Magnesium Cream . Another magnesium cream I have used personally is this one: 8 Sheep Organics Magnesium Cream

If you’ve read other posts on my blog or talked with me long, you probably have heard how strongly I feel about incorporating high quality probiotics into your life for pregnancy, nursing and newborn health…and now I’m finding proof that probiotics can also help with morning sickness! These two articles show how: Study: Probiotics Reduce Nausea & Vomiting  and Study Finds Probiotics Significantly Improve Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy. Based on this research, as well as knowing how beneficial probiotics are to your overall health, it seems like it can’t hurt anything to increase or start your probiotic intake during the early weeks/months of pregnancy. If you’re looking for some good quality options, here are a few that have been recommended by other midwives and clients that I trust: Klaire Labs Therbiotic Complete, This Is Needed: Prenatal Probiotic, and Entegro:Flourish. Another way to increase your probiotic consumption is through fermented foods, such as raw sauerkraut and drinks like Kefir. Some moms have found the “sparkling” aspect of water kefir to be especially appealing while feeling sick, and many stores carry options such as Kevita in the cold drink section. You can also learn How to Make Water Kefir at Home or purchase something like this: Coco-Biotic Coconut Water Kefir

Some moms can obtain relief by supplementing with some specific vitamins & nutrients. Adding a few drops of this Liquid PhosFood by Standard Process to your drinking water (it tastes similar to lemon) has been beneficial to a few clients. Other times your body really needs some additional B vitamins, both for the B6 that specifically helps with nausea, and for the energy that is so lacking during the first trimester! My favorite B complex for those early weeks is the Max BnD Fermented B complex that helped me SO much with my last pregnancy. Whatever type of B vitamin you find, make sure that is contains bio-available forms, such as folate and methylated Bs, in order to obtain the most benefit. Jarrow and Seeking Health are two good brands to purchase.

Now we’ll move on to some random suggestions and options that have helped other moms (thanks to so many who shared in response to my question on what has helped!):

  • Hard Candies Specific for Morning Sickness: Morning Sickness Sweets by Pink Stork,  UpSpring Stomach Settle Drops , PreggiePop Drops & Tummy Drops are several good options to choose from.
  • Ginger: many people find ginger helps to settle the stomach, and you can try it in the form of Ginger Ale, Ginger supplements, or even through chews & candies such as these: Gin-Gins Ginger People Candy & Chews
  • Pink Stork offers a product called Total Morning Sickness Relief that contains needed vitamins & minerals for nausea.  
  • Herbal tinctures formulated specifically for morning sickness: Wishgarden Calm-A-Tum, BrighterMornings from Natural Hope, StomachAid from MMH, & Nausea Relief Tincture from HerbLore.
  • Acupressure in the form of Sea-Bands is helpful for some moms: Research on relief of nausea from Sea-Bands
  • Frequent snacking (don’t let your stomach get empty!), and eating something light before you get out of bed in the morning. Make sure you’re getting protein in whenever possible, even adding it to smoothies if needed!
  • Daily mineral supplement, such as this Fulvic-Humic Acid Mineral Blend available through VitaCost.
  • 1 gel cap of Heather’s Tummy Care Peppermint Oil Caps before each meal for 3-5 days, adjust as needed.
  • Fruit Juice popsicles
  • Some moms find that they need to quit taking daily prenatal vitamins during this time, as they can be too hard on the already sensitive stomach. Don’t stress if you need to do this-you & baby will both do better overall if you can keep food down, and this is more important than the vitamins during these weeks! Remember, baby needed the vitamins the most during the first few weeks, so by the time morning sickness hits with a vengeance this key foundation is over, so the goal is keeping mom hydrated and healthy! An alternative is to find a different vitamin and see if it might be gentler on your stomach. There are gummies, powders and pills, so another form may work during these initial weeks, especially if it does not contain iron which can be particularly hard on a queasy stomach.

IF you really are struggling to keep anything down, and need to move past the natural supplement stage, don’t hesitate to reach out to your care provider for additional support. Some moms MUST have prescription meds to survive these months, and that is totally warranted depending on the situation. Other moms need to have an occasional IV in order to restore hydration, and we are thankful for these interventions when they are desperately needed. Some over-the-counter yet more medically-based solutions are:

In closing, here are a few other blogs that contain more suggestions on how to find relief from the challenges of morning sickness: Wellness Mama: How to Avoid Morning Sickness & Natural Morning Sickness Remedies

I would love to hear from you readers: what did you find helpful?? Any suggestions that aren’t on this list? Did anything listed here benefit you? What did you find helped from one pregnancy to another? Thanks so much for sharing so that we can all learn and hopefully be better able to handle these early weeks and months of pregnancy!

Boosting Energy During Pregnancy
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Boosting Energy During Pregnancy

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If you’re like me, one of the huge challenges of pregnancy (especially early pregnancy!) is the severe lack of energy. Honestly, if you stop and think about it, your body is pouring so much into making a tiny baby that there just isn’t enough energy to do much else! While you might KNOW that your productivity can’t be measured by what you get done visibly, it can be hard when you feel like there isn’t enough of mommy to go around to all the needs at home.

In this post, I want to share a few tips that might help you get through pregnancy while keeping your energy levels up. There are many different factors in the equation, and honestly each one could be the subject of a separate post. For instance, a diet that is low in simple carbs & sugars, and has a good array of healthful fats and proteins can make a big difference for some women. To get more pointers on this, I’d highly recommend reading Lily Nichol’s book Real Food for Pregnancy. Another factor is getting some sunshine and movement (a walk outside can help immensely!). Yet another factor is finding ways to curb morning sickness (this is another topic on my mind for a future post).

While you may find that early on in your pregnancy you may have to forego your prenatal vitamins due to sickness (did you know prenatal vitamins can sometimes make you feel worse those first months?!? My personal philosophy is that if the vitamins keep you from keeping food down, then it’s best to scrap them for awhile!), once you’re able to take pills again, it’s key to find a quality vitamin. Getting adequate levels of minerals, as well as easy-to-absorb forms of folate, B12 and other vitamins can all contribute to boosting your energy levels. Check your labels to make sure that your vitamins contain folate (and NOT the synthetic form called folic acid), and that the B vitamins are methylated in order to promote absorption. This article on Folic acid vs. Folate may help you to better understand the difference, and why it matters.

Whether you can take your prenatal vitamins or not, I’ve found that supplementing with additional B vitamins can be a huge help, especially during the early months when your body is working so hard and fetal development is so rapidly taking place. During one of my pregnancies, I found that B vitamin injections provided me with some relief from morning sickness as well as boosted my energy levels, and when those weren’t available for me for my most recent pregnancy, I spent some time researching other options. I stumbled upon this gem, and found it to be an incredible energy boost: Max Stress B is a fermented, liquid B complex that provides a combination of B vitamins in a form your body can utilize quickly. Another helpful supplement is a B complex lozenge, which you can slip under your tongue before getting out of bed in the morning, and/or take throughout the day. Two brands I have appreciated are Jarrow  and Seeking Health. If you are only looking for B12, I find that these lozenges are great when you need an extra boost and mama doesn’t have time or opportunity for a nap: Jarrow B12. I even keep these on hand and use them when I’m up all night at births!

Low iron (anemia) can also be a reason for low energy, though sometimes this can even be corrected by the above B vitamins, as some types of anemia are actually caused by a B12 and folate deficiency (your midwife or care provider should be able to determine whether this is the cause by looking at your prenatal blood work). If your hemaglobin is actually low, then some suggestions would include supplementing with a plant-based whole-foods iron supplement such as  Garden of Life Iron,  adding daily doses of liquid chlorophyll, and even regularly consuming Blackstrap Molasses , all of which can help to gently increase your iron levels. If you need more iron suggestions and information, check out this article from Mama Natural on anemia during pregnancy.

These are just a few suggestions to get you started, and if you’ve found something that helps you with maintaining good energy levels during pregnancy, I would love to hear about it. And if you try any of these recommendations, let me know how it works for you. I love getting feedback and knowing what works for different people!