The Morning Sickness Kit
from The Rea Centre Collection: A Work in Progress edited by Chet Day
Here are a few of the most effective natural approaches to easing or stopping morning sickness. The first approach must be cleared with your physician before you use it, and if he isn't aware of the research, the latest studies come from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in Iowa City, which repeated and updated work done in the 1940s. There is also a similar recent study about morning sickness from Thailand, but I cannot find the reference. There will be others -- there is work done in Denmark in the literature too.
The treatment is vitamin B6 -- a MAXIMUM of 75 mg per day taken as three split doses of 25mg. Use a good quality B6 like those in the United Kingdom from Quest or Solgar or equivalent brands recommended by your doctor or pharmacist. Head of the study Dr Jennifer Niebyl from Iowa recommends taking the first dose on getting out of bed, the second in mid afternoon and last before bed. Do not exceed this dose under any circumstances. If it doesn't help your morning sickness within 3-4 days, discontinue as it's not for you.
Next, ginger is the bee's knees for many women who suffer from morning sickness, and it's also used in Denmark in their navy for helping sailors who get sea sick. A Danish research project used 1/8 teaspoon four times a day to relieve symptoms in a group of women hospitalized by the severity of the problem, but again, Dr. Niebyl of Iowa mentions this as an alternative to B6 and suggests 1/2 teaspoon. So if you cannot lay your hands on fresh ginger root, try the powdered herb. As to why it works, there is a piece of work done by Daniel Mowrey, Director of the American Phytotherapy Research Lab in Lehi, Utah, which suggests that ginger -- powder or tea -- works directly in the gastrointestinal tract by interfering with the feedback mechanisms that send time to throw up messages to the brain. The ginger powder will need washing down with water.
A carbohydrate-rich snack like a dry oatcake, nibbled IN BED before you get up will also make a potential aid for many women with the problem. But if you put butter on it, well, don't. The fat will cause you to vomit.
Herbal teas that will work, but which aren't for every individual, are catnip, raspberry leaf, mint, fennel, and, of course, ginger. Try the various herb teas for 2-3 days and see if they help. Twice daily should be sufficient. You'll find these herbs at either a health food store or a medical herbalist.
Homeopathy remedies to look at are Ant-t, Arg-n, Ipecac, Lyc, Nux-v, Puls, Sepia. I would be inclined to try Nux vomica first. Use the 6x potency as directed on the bottle until symptoms abate and then discontinue.
Kelp tablets, one a day in the morning, have helped some alleviate morning sickness, but you need to find a decent brand, and I can't help there.
Although you don't want to use the acupressure technique for relieving constipation, there is a safe acupressure technique for morning sickness, which carries no risk at all to the foetus. You want to put pressure on the Neiguan P6 point on the lower arm for 2-5 minutes four times a day.
To locate the Neiguan point on one of your inner forearms, measure two thumb-widths up from the wrist crease.
Using your thumb on the opposite hand, apply moderate pressure to this point while maintaining some nice slow breathing. When done, repeat on the other forearm.
There is a variation on this in the shape of a special wrist band made for people who get sea sick. One brand is called Sea Bands made by Sea Band International of Greensboro, NC. I can't vouch for this in any way, not having tested it. Your pharmacist should be able to locate a supply for you, and they are unlikely to be a great expense.Diaphragmatic breathing is a definite success with many people, and its excellent for the foetus too because the baby gets the benefit as well.
This mixed bag of natural remedies for morning sickness should keep you busy experimenting for a while, and as time is passing you should find that the problem starts to ease once your pregnancy gets past week 16.
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