How to survive morning sickness

What helps morning sickness? If you are reading this right now and suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, I want you to know that it really will get better. It might take time – and that time might feel like hell – but this will pass and it will all be so worth it. 

I have to say this straight away because both times I was pregnant, I suffered at least 22 long weeks of HG – which then returned as heartburn in the third trimester. I googled every bit of advice I could find on ‘morning’ sickness: if there was any science, old wives’ tale, life hack or placebo effect I wanted to know about it – but really all I wanted to know is that it would end as soon as possible. I counted down until my 12th week when nausea is meant to get better, waited impatiently until Week 15 when it really SHOULD end but the frustrating fact was both times I was pregnant, I was comfortably into the second half of it before symptoms started to shrink – and never really went away.

However, this gives me a keen interest in HG even now, because there is nowhere near enough help out there. There is one UK website which covers this subject (www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk), yet some believe it affects up to 10% of pregnancies – because, typically, most cases go unrecorded in a familiar scenario of women’s health where we are conditioned to just get on with it and not cause a fuss. There also isn’t enough awareness about what helps morning sickness: perhaps because anyone who has suffered from it just wants to forget about the whole thing. 

Below, I’ve given 10 tips to help with morning sickness. I had it for almost a year (altogether) and learned a few tricks along the way. However, unless you’ve lived it, no one understands the mental toll of being unable to feed your eldest child or even hug them in case you smell milk on their skin. What got me through my HG experience was visualising my newborn baby – how she would look, how it would feel to hold her and all the shared experiences we would have together. I knew once she was with me, all those nauseous months would be worth it and a distant memory. 

For me, they now are a memory but I would love to help as many current sufferers as possible. If you have any tips for what helps morning sickness, please put them in the comments.

 

1) Myrtle and Maude Morning Sickness Vitamin B6 Bon Bons

This was a revelation in my second pregnancy. Vitamin B6 has been shown to reduce symptoms of HG and before I found these, I had tried to get it in my body the traditional way (fish, potatoes, avocado). However, these little peppermint flavoured moments of genius allowed me to function like a normal human being for 20 minutes. That might not sound long but when you’re allowed up to 16 sweets per day they’re a godsend during the working hours.

2) Fish

Experts recommend a high protein diet to help morning sickness and I can vouch that it does help. Fish, in particular, was one of the few foods that consistently stayed down after I had eaten it. You have to be careful as you’re only allowed three portions of certain fish per week when pregnant but I would vary it up between salmon, cod and haddock. However the nightmare of fish is that it produces one of the worst smells when being cooked so delegate kitchen duties to your other half and make sure they close the door behind them. 

3) Cold air

I’ve had HG in all seasons and a summer heatwave was definitely the worst: when I would leave the house, I could smell a burnt musty aroma that would make me feel worse straight away. However in the colder seasons, I would leave the bedroom window open in the middle of the night and wrap up warm because the cool breeze would make me feel better. Yes, my bedroom had a few dozen spiders by the end of the first trimester but it helped keep sicky feelings at bay.

4) Getting someone else to do a deep clean

This has to be a deep clean. I mean every nook and cranny, smothered in Dettol, need to air the chemicals from the room afterwards deep clean. My nickname during pregnancy was ‘Wolverine’ because of the keen sense of smell I had gained. Unfortunately, that meant I smelt every single aroma that came from my house, which gave me a multitude of sickness triggers. After we Mrs Hinched the hell out of the living room, I was able to go downstairs again, after weeks of lying in bed. 

5) Cheesy nachos

This is also linked to that high protein advice but also adds some nice dry tortilla chips to settle your stomach for good measure. I ate this every day for lunch for at least three months during pregnancy. Of course no guacamole or salsa was allowed – the acidity of these alone would have sent everything back up. But no nasty smells when cooking this made it a must-have meal from Week 8 onwards. 

6) Carbonated water

I never really got the point of carbonated water until I became pregnant – then I lapped it up like it was the elixir of life. If you sip the water slowly it will make you burp a lot. But as I have learned after dealing with two reflux babies, if you burp, you are far less likely to throw up so this becomes a genuine HG hack. I used to stockpile this when I was pregnant; in fact, we’ve only just finished it. 

7) Find a smell that works for you 

There’s so many smells which are triggering when you have HG – dishwasher soap, laundry liquid, shampoo – that it’s hard to find a smell that you actually enjoy. But when you find one, my god you have to hold onto it. I really struggled, trying out a range of failed scented candles, until I landed on the sweet smell of… coconut toilet paper, which I would position around my home for something to grab and sniff when I felt nauseous. For some reason, actual coconut fragrance was too much for me but some cheap value toilet paper hit the sweet spot. 

8) Jacket potato

Ah, the basic spud. In the first trimester, a plain potato was all I could manage but I managed to climb up to the giddy heights of a cheesy jacket potato by Week 20. A baked potato really helps line the stomach so you can try something else or wolf those pregnancy supplements down. I’ve been told baked beans work as a topping too as they’re high in fibre. 

9) Sea bands

I wore these when I felt my absolute worst and I still had to work full-time. For me, they helped for one or two days, until my wrists stretched the fabric and they were unable to apply a good pressure – so my advice is buy as many as you can for as cheaply as possible. Also, try to get a colour which matches your normal wardrobe as if these are spotted, colleagues will work out you are pregnant – if the constant dashing to the toilet doesn’t give it away.

10) Ginger capsules

This is the only tip on my list which I didn’t try for myself as I have an absolute disliking for anything ginger. However, I’ve heard that these capsules are so highly rated that I thought it would be remiss to not include them on my ‘what helps morning sickness’ list. Ginger has long been used to help travel sickness so there’s got to be something in it. 

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