10 Stomach-settling Tips Help Relieve Morning Sickness

Tired of tossing your cookies?

Morning sickness is a common complaint of pregnant women, especially those who pray to the porcelain god on a daily basis. Despite its name, morning sickness can occur at any hour. It usually rears its ugly head around the fourth week of pregnancy and, for about half of women, ends by the 16th week of pregnancy. Others aren’t so lucky, though, and will battle morning sickness for the duration of their pregnancy.

Cause remains a mystery. In another cruel twist, the cause of morning sickness remains a mystery. Theories abound, but many health professionals believe that morning sickness is the product of many factors, such as higher levels of hormones, physical changes and a greater sensitivity to foods and odors. Regardless of its origin, morning sickness has been making pregnant women miserable for centuries. In fact, the earliest recorded cases of morning sickness date back to as far as Elizabethan England (1558-1603). Now that’s a true Shakespearian tragedy.  

In addition to disrupting daily activities in a most unpleasant way, morning sickness poses potential health risks to both mother and child. Woman with severe morning sickness may lose excessive amounts of weight—frequent vomiting and a complete loss of appetite have a way of doing that. A malnourished mother can lead to a malnourished fetus, which can suffer growth abnormalities if deprived of essential vitamins and nutrients over a prolonged period of time. Because of these potentially life-threatening complications, women with brutal bouts of morning sickness should contact their doctor immediately.

10 Survival Tips

For those with mild to moderate morning sickness—and most pregnant women fall into this category—we offer these 10 survival tips.


  • Drink 10 cups of water (8 ounces per cup) a day to avoid dehydration and constipation. A cup of ice chips equals about a 1/2 cup of fluid, likewise for a cup of watermelon cubes.

  • Make a running list of “bad trigger odors” and post each in your office or on your refrigerator to alert others. Trust us, your friends and family will thank you.

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