Nausea is a frequent symptom of women who are in their first three months of pregnancy.  It is often called “morning sickness,” although it can happen at any time of day.  Some estimate that it happens in over half of all pregnancies.  It is almost always fairly easily managed, but a small percentage of pregnant women go on to have the severe form of nausea and vomiting called hyperemesis gravidarum.

I help care for a lot of women with this form of severe nausea and vomiting.  They are referred to me by obstetricians due to my expertise in this condition.  The things I have learned over the years treating these very sick ladies has given me a very good understanding of how to manage even the milder form of nausea.

Probably the most useful tool I have in my arsenal for this problem is vitamin B6.  Not only is it very effective, it is also very safe.  It is also very much underutilized.  If you are pregnant and even having mild nausea, you should consider talking to your obstetrician about using this vitamin.  I doubt he of she would object.  I usually recommend 50 mg. three times a day.  The amount can be increased to as much as 100 mg. three times a day, but do not go higher.  There are reports of side effects that occur when higher doses are taken for prolonged periods of time (several months).

You might also consider trying acupressure.  I use acupressure a lot for this condition since it is so safe.  While it doesn’t seem to be quite as effective as it is in many other conditions, when it does work for nausea it can be a real blessing.  If you do not know this technique and want to learn it, go to my earlier article where I explain all about it.  (Link to acupressure article here)  Not only might this technique help with nausea, once you learn it, you can apply it to many other problems easily.

Another technique you might try is dietary modifications.  A good resource that covers this well is a web site of the American Pregnancy Association.  Here is the link:  Morningsickness.

If your nausea gets so severe that you start to vomit, definitely contact your obstetrician.  Prescription anti-emetics would be the logical next step to take.  If you require IV therapy, consider asking your obstetrician if he or she would be interested in a copy of my monograph about hyperemesis gravidarum, the first couple of chapters can be found as a page at the top of this blog in the header.  The full There are some ideas contained in this monograph that may be useful.  The monograph is written by me specifically for physicians managing hyperemesis gravidarum.

Hopefully some of the information you find here will help eliminate your nausea.

Chuck

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Addendum: 8-29-11

I happened to think that I had read some reports from the EFT archives about morning sickness.  If you do not know about EFT, earlier I placed a blog article about it called: A healing method I would stake my reputation on, July 28, 2011.  The EFT archives contain thousands of reports from people using EFT all over the world.  Here are three links to articles about today’s topic and how EFT helped.

http://www.eftuniverse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=852:michael-valenti-md-shares-stories-of-using-eft-with-his-patients-for-asthma-multiple-sclerosis-depression-and-pregnancy-vomiting&catid=15:respiratory&Itemid=907

http://www.eftuniverse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1943:eft-for-nausea-and-discomfort-from-pregnancy&catid=33:articles-a-ideas&Itemid=1880

http://www.eftuniverse.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3310:efts-use-for-jackies-pregnancy-issues-was-so-spectacular-that-her-physician-thought-she-had-a-miscarriage&catid=59:fertility-birthing&Itemid=2910

I hope these are helpful!

Chuck