Pregnancy and Nausea: Diana's Insight
From acupressure bands to ginger, see what Diana has tried to help quell nausea while pregnant
Pregnancy and Nausea
One of the hardest parts of pregnancy for many people is the nausea. It can be worse for some than others and can, tragically, last much longer than expected. Typically, it eases by around 14 weeks, but for some, it can lasts throughout all of pregnancy. I feel grateful that my nausea was relatively mild in both of my pregnancies and mostly gone by the second trimester. These are things that helped me personally, and also tips I recommend as a nutritionist. If you experience severe nausea, it’s important to talk with your OBGYN or midwife, as there are safe medications that can help.
For me, the most important thing was keeping some food in my stomach at all times. In my first pregnancy, I kept plain crackers next to my bed and would eat a few before even getting up in the morning. I cannot overstate how much just eating a bit every few hours helped. I think simple, bland foods work best like toast, crackers, cereal, a banana, or applesauce. Eating small, frequent meals can also be key- eating too much at once often made me feel worse. It can also be helpful to separate meals and water by about 20–30 minutes, rather than drinking large amounts with food.
I also kept ginger chews and ginger tea on hand. Ginger is naturally soothing, although, to be honest, I didn’t notice a huge effect. I kept it up though just because something is always better than nothing.
Acupressure bands, like Sea-Bands, can be helpful. I tried them too, and while they didn’t make a big difference for me, I tried to lean into the placebo effect.
Supplementing with vitamin B6 has also been well studied and may be the most helpful. You can take a B6 supplement or focus on foods rich in B6, like salmon, poultry, avocado, pistachios, bananas, and spinach.
Pregnancy nausea can feel relentless, and I don’t want to minimize how hard it can be. While the biggest help is just time, eating small, frequent meals, B6, ginger and acupressure bands may make it much more manageable.
Did you experience a lot of nausea in pregnancy? What helped you? SHare in the comments.
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