What it is
What to eat with morning sickness is a question of survival, not nutrition. Nausea touches 7 to 8 of every 10 pregnant mothers, usually from about week six to week fourteen. An empty stomach makes it worse. Small, bland, cold, and salty tend to go down easiest.
What's typical
Small meals every two hours keep the stomach from emptying. Common wins: toast, plain potatoes, rice, bananas, cold watermelon, pretzels, yogurt, cheese sticks, smoothies, popsicles, lemonade. Most mothers eat a narrow, beige diet for a few weeks, and the baby is fine.
What's known
ACOG's nausea guidance starts with small, frequent, bland meals and avoiding triggers. Ginger has the best evidence of any food for nausea, in trials reviewed by Cochrane. Vitamin B6 and medicine options exist beyond food; ask what your provider would suggest. The first trimester does not need extra calories, so a few weeks of crackers is not a crisis.
What helps
- Keep crackers or dry cereal by the bed. Eat a few before you get up.
- Eat something every two hours, even three bites. Protein helps it last.
- Sip fluids between meals, not with them. Try lemon water or ginger tea.
When to call someone
- Nowfainting, or vomiting blood.
- Todayyou cannot keep fluids down for 24 hours, or you have lost more than 5 percent of your weight. That may be hyperemesis.
- At your next visitnausea is still bad past 16 weeks, or aversions are keeping you from all protein.
Who helps
Tools: Postpartum Meal Planner
Related
- Nausea and vomiting in pregnancyPregnancy: Your Body
- Hyperemesis gravidarum: when sickness is severePregnancy: Your Body
- Cravings and food aversionsPregnancy: Eating
- Drinking enough waterPregnancy: Eating
What mothers here say
No one has posted under this topic yet. The first experience here will help the next mother who searches for it at 2 a.m.
Experiences and questions are their authors' own, not reviewed advice. The topic's steward lists the ones that help most in a credited digest once there is one. Unusual experiences stay, with a note.
Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Morning sickness: nausea and vomiting of pregnancy FAQ
- Cochrane — Interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy review
- NHS — Vomiting and morning sickness
Sources are named, not yet linked. The steward verifies each one and adds the link.
Steward this topic
Birthworkers listed in our directory can claim a topic, verify its sources, and curate what mothers share here. Your name and credential go at the top of the page. Takes about an hour the first time.
Find your directory page