Many people experience nausea and vomiting during the first few months of pregnancy. It’s sometimes called “morning sickness,” but it can occur at any time of day. It’s a normal result of your body’s adjustment to the hormones of pregnancy.

These symptoms usually improve after the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy. In the meantime, try these strategies to help you feel better.

Drinking

Drinking plenty of fluids, especially water, can help with nausea. Try the following to include more liquids in your diet:

• Drink liquids throughout the day, between meals and snacks.
• Sip small amounts of apple juice, grape juice, or caffeine-free carbonated beverages. Avoid citrus juice, milk, and caffeine as these can make nausea worse.
• Experiment with the temperature of liquids. Sometimes cold liquids are better tolerated than hot, or vice versa.
• Eat fruits with high water content, like melons.
• Try popsicles to get more fluids.

Eating

It may seem counterintuitive, but eating can be helpful to combat nausea. Aim for 5 or 6 small meals each day. Try to eat something every 2 to 3 hours, even if you don’t feel hungry. If you don’t eat, nausea usually gets worse. We also suggest you:

• Eat crackers or dry toast in bed before getting up in the morning. Allow a few minutes for the snack to digest, then get out of bed slowly. You may wish to keep crackers by your bed to eat in the morning and before going to bed to help prevent an empty stomach during the night.
• Avoid greasy, fried, spicy, or highly acidic foods.
• Eat gingersnaps or cook with ginger.
• Eat bland foods, such as rice, plain toast, crackers, bananas, and applesauce.
• Drink smoothies or soups if you can’t tolerate solid food.

Managing reactions to smells

You may develop a heightened sense of smell during pregnancy, which can make being around certain foods difficult. You can try to:

• Avoid cooking the foods that bother you.
• Keep a window open and get plenty of fresh air.
• Use an exhaust fan to get rid of cooking odors.
• Be aware that your nausea triggers might be foods that you normally like.
• Ask someone else to remove the trash or other strong odors around where you cook and eat.

Taking prenatal vitamins

Some prenatal vitamins can trigger morning sickness or make it worse. While you must take folic acid daily, you can temporarily stop taking other prenatal vitamins while you’re nauseated unless we advise you to continue taking them. To make them easier to tolerate:

• Take your prenatal vitamins at night before going to bed.
• Switch to a chewable prenatal vitamin. You can even try children's gummies or tablets, but make sure you’re taking the required amount to add up to 0.4 mg of folic acid (folate) daily.
• Switch to a prenatal vitamin that doesn’t contain iron. Sometimes iron can cause nausea.
• Temporarily stop your prenatal vitamin and just take folic acid 0.4 mg daily. These are smaller tablets, so usually easier to swallow. Once your nausea improves, then go back to your normal prenatal vitamin.

Self-care treatments

There are a few natural remedies you can try for help, such as:

• Resting as often as you can during the day. Taking naps can help reduce nausea.
• Using wristbands (such as Sea-Bands) that press on your wrists to reduce nausea.
• Smelling fresh lemon, mint, or orange or using an essential oil diffuser with these scents.
• Sucking on something sour, such as lemon drops or hard candies. These may provide temporary relief of excessive salivation. If you have diabetes, use sugar-free lozenges.
• Adding ginger into your diet. That includes tea, fresh or pickled ginger, lollipops, candy, or ginger ale. You may also try powdered ginger capsule supplements. The recommended dose is up to 1,000 to 1,500 mg per day in divided doses (such as 350 mg three times a day, or 250 mg four times a day).
• Trying acupuncture or acupressure. Both of these are safe for your baby.

Treatments with medication

If you’re not feeling relief from self-care measures, try vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 10 to 25 mg every 6 to 8 hours.

If that’s not sufficient, you can add one of the following medications along with the vitamin B6. They may cause drowsiness, so use only one at a time and with caution for tasks requiring alertness.

• Start by trying doxylamine (sold as the sleep aid Unisom) 10 to 12.5 mg every 6 to 8 hours. It comes in a 25 mg tablet, so cut it in half to use for nausea. To avoid drowsiness, start with taking the doxylamine at night, 1 hour prior to bedtime.
• If that doesn’t work, you can instead try diphenhydramine (Benadryl) 25 mg every 6 hours, or meclizine (Dramamine) 50 mg once per day. You may start with half a tablet first, as a lower dose may be effective with fewer side effects.

These are safe for your baby and are available in most pharmacies without a prescription. If you think you need a stronger medication to manage nausea and/or vomiting, please talk to your prenatal clinician who can discuss the option of prescription medications.

Medications containing cannabis (THC or CBD) are not recommended during pregnancy.

Always ask your clinician or call our 24/7 Appointment and Advice Call Center at 866-454-8855 if you have questions or concerns about taking an over-the-counter medication during pregnancy.

When to call us

Call our 24/7 Appointment and Advice Call Center at 866-454-8855 if you have vomiting that:

• Is severe, with pain or fever.
• Is frequent (more than 2 to 3 times a day).
• Lasts more than 1 hour.
• Has caused you to lose more than 2 pounds.

Call us immediately if:

• You’re vomiting blood.
• Your urine looks dark yellow.