What is morning sickness?
Almost 60 to 70 percent of women suffer from morning sickness during the early phase or through their pregnancy. However morning sickness does not occur only in the morning though the probability of occurrence of this particular irritating symptom of pregnancy is high in the morning when the stomach of the mother is empty. It can also occur at any other time during the day. It is characterized by nausea, vomiting or queasiness. Though none of the feelings is present many women actually feel good after actually vomiting.
Eating in a Healthy way
An expectant mother should avoid eating food that is high in fat or is greasy (like gravy, butter, mayonnaise, margarine, bacon, pastries, French fries, fried meat). Spicy food should also be avoided during pregnancy in order to lower morning sickness. One should avoid eating food that is spicy and is cooked with heavy doses of garlic, pepper or hot chilly pepper. However it has been claimed that ginger reduces the feeling of morning sickness. Another effective way to fight morning sickness is to eat small meals at a regular interval of a couple of hours. It helps a lot while dealing with morning sickness as the stomach is filled through out the day.
This also helps to gain proper nutrition and stabilize blood sugar. Often stuffs like lemon, hard candy, and suckers can be tried when dealing with morning sickness. It is advisable to eat easy digestible food like whole wheat toast, cracker, hot baked potato, cooked pasta, cooked rice or fruits to avoid or minimize morning sickness. Eating cold food is also helpful when dealing with morning sickness. This is because of the fact that cold food has fewer odors and is easy to swallow.
Other Effective Measures
Though dealing with morning sickness can be troublesome, as it has no particular reason for occurrence, quite a few measures can be taken to reduce this typical feeling. A pregnant woman should be careful while getting out of bed in the morning. An abrupt change in the position from lying flat to standing can elevate the feeling of morning sickness. If one has been vomiting it is advisable to drink water, preferably cold water, or suck ice so as to avoid dehydration.
The doctor should be contacted if one vomits more than 2 times. Often working women suffer a lot from morning sickness as they are under more stress as compared to housewives. It is better to avoid stress during pregnancy to reduce the probability of suffering from morning sickness. One should also have a good night’s sleep and if possible should try light exercises so as to avoid stress that is a major contributing factor of morning sickness.
