Pregnancy is amazing, for a whole host of different reasons – the most important being the birth of your beautiful baby! But pregnancy also comes with some not so amazing little gifts along the way. A big one being morning sickness.  

When your preggers, your senses are heightened – like Spiderman. Unlike Spiderman, this makes you super sensitive to certain foods and smells, which brings nausea and vomiting. And, unfortunately, morning sickness is not just reserved for the morning, it can hit at any time during the day or night. But you’re having a baby, you’re tough. This is nothing you can’t handle and we’re here to support you and answer any and all questions you might have along the way.  

When does morning sickness start? 

Typically, morning sickness first strikes between week 6 and 9 of your first trimester – around the same time that your cravings might start. Symptoms could appear gradually, with increased aversion to certain foods and smells, or could seem to happen overnight, like a really bad hangover. Your morning sickness symptoms might be the worst around week 10 or 12, and then they often die down after that. 

Morning sickness is really nothing to worry about though, it doesn’t mean your pregnancy is unhealthy – just ensure that you keep yourself hydrated and topped up with the food that doesn’t make you nauseous and you’ll be fine. But if you’re really worried about it, a visit to your GP can’t hurt.  

How long does morning sickness last?  

Hopefully, you’ll rid the symptoms of morning sickness between week 12 and 16 of your pregnancy. Not many women take their morning sickness into their second trimester, so that’s something to look forward to. If morning sickness symptoms do stumble into your second and third trimester, you may just have an extra sensitive stomach or aversions to lots of foods and smells.   

Something to look out for, if morning sickness is sticking around for a while, is weight loss – if you’re losing lots of weight, this can affect the development of your little one so, in that case, you might want to consult your doctor. 

Does everyone get morning sickness?  

Around 80% of women experience morning sickness during their pregnancies, so you can pretty much guarantee that your Mum friends will understand what you’re going through. However, women experience symptoms in very different ways. Some women avoid sickness all together and just have the feeling of nausea throughout their first trimester, and some struggle to eat anything without being sick (which you should see your doctor about).  

If you’re part of the lucky 20% that doesn’t experience any symptoms of morning sickness – woohoo! Just because you’re not experiencing symptoms, doesn’t mean there’s cause for alarm. Every pregnancy is different, even if you’ve experienced morning sickness or food aversions in a previous pregnancy, that doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily experience the same symptoms in this pregnancy.  

Can morning sickness come and go?  

Once you’ve gotten used to certain pregnancy symptoms, it can be often be a bit alarming when those symptoms stop or change. But many pregnancy symptoms can be erratic. You might notice swift changes in your mood, food cravings and even morning sickness – this is totally normal. One day you may feel totally fine and the next day the sickness might come back with a vengeance.  

If you’re worried that your pregnancy symptoms have subsided, you can always ask your doctor. But unpredictable and inconsistent morning sickness symptoms are totally normal and, most of the time, nothing to worry about.  

How to ease morning sickness with home remedies  

If you’re looking for a quick and effective fix for morning sickness, there are a bunch of at-home remedies that can be super helpful to decrease the symptoms of morning sickness. Morning sickness is tough, but ginger tea is tougher…  

Avoiding nausea triggers  

This is your time to be picky about the food and smells around you. If you’re working in an office and Janet from HR brings a tuna sandwich for her lunch, let her know that that’s not cool. Anything to avoid nausea triggers is worth it, even if it does piss off Janet.  

Choose your foods carefully  

Easily digestible, non-greasy and even bland foods can be a great option for avoiding nausea and vomiting. You might find that your tastes change during different weeks of your pregnancy and that’s ok! Go with what you feel comfortable with make sure your house and work is rid of smells that you can’t stand.  

Staying hydrated  

Even though you might be visiting the loo much more often that you’re used to, you still need to make sure you’re keeping yourself hydrated through the day. It might seem a lot but try and aim for around 10 glasses of non-caffeinated liquids a day. After a while, it’ll just become part of your daily routine – which is a great thing to keep with you after the birth of your little one.  

Eating foods containing ginger  

If you’re not a lover of ginger, now is the time to wean yourself on to it. Ginger can make a difference to feelings of nausea and can effectively subside vomiting (hallelujah). Ginger tea, ginger biscuits, ginger supplements – there are a bunch of different methods you can try. Just be careful about the amount of ginger you intake as there have been studies to suggest large amounts could be harmful*. 

*According to Heathline

Eating little and often   

It can be a bit gruelling to finish a whole meal while you’re struggling with morning sickness, but sickness on an empty stomach just makes things worse. Try to eat little amounts throughout the whole day – bland snacks like crackers and dry toast are ideal for keeping your belly full with little to no nausea along the way.  

Just to stress this again – morning sickness and nausea is totally normal during pregnancy. Sure, it’s annoying and can be a little stressful, especially if you’re out and about, but most of the time it’s nothing to worry about. Just make sure to keep yourself hydrated and full. If you are worried about prolonged or unusual morning sickness though, pay a visit to your doctor.