Best Products for Pregnancy Nausea and Morning Sickness

One of pregnancy’s first symptoms is also one of its toughest — a sudden, overwhelming, not-just-in-the-morning feeling of nausea. It’s also super common, and even though it's called morning sickness, the feeling that you might toss your cookies at a moment’s notice can linger all day long.

At least 70 percent of expectant parents experience nausea and vomiting in the first trimester, which generally starts around 6 weeks of pregnancy. But just because nausea and morning sickness are an expected part of pregnancy doesn’t mean you have to just suffer through it.

Why you might experience nausea during pregnancy

There are quite a few different elements at play that can cause morning sickness or nausea during pregnancy. But the number one factor is high levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced by your newly forming placenta, says Kelli Burroughs, M.D., department chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital in Texas. The amount of HCG is very high in early pregnancy, she says, which explains why there’s a “temporal relationship” between the peak amounts of this hormone and the peak symptoms of nausea and vomiting in the first trimester.

Other things that can affect morning sickness include genetics (for example, if your mom or sister had nausea), a slowing down of the bowels (due to elevated levels of the hormone progesterone), carrying a baby girl (hi, elevated estrogen levels!) or a history of migraines or motion sickness. Carrying more than one baby — like if you’re pregnant with twins — might also make nausea worse since you have higher HCG levels, adds Dr. Burroughs (since in many cases, each twin has his own placenta).

Fortunately, most moms-to-be don’t experience symptoms for the full nine months. Many women find their morning sickness subsides by the 14th week of pregnancy. “For most patients, it improves by the time they complete the first trimester,” says Dr. Burroughs. But if you’re in the throes of it now, there are thankfully some things you can try to help make you feel less queasy.

How some products can help you find relief from pregnancy nausea

There are quite a few different options out there to help you manage your pregnancy nausea.

• Prenatal vitamins without iron: Taking a prenatal vitamin is super-important, but which one you take could affect how nauseous you feel. Some research shows that switching your prenatal to one without iron may help improve nausea and vomiting issues during the first trimester. (And if you can’t stomach any prenatal, Dr. Burroughs says it’s okay to take just a folic acid supplement during the first trimester, since that’s one of the most critical nutrients during this time. Just remember that it’s always a good idea to check with your practitioner before making any switches.)
• Vitamin B6: Taking a vitamin B6 supplement may help with nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. But if B6 alone isn’t helping, doctors often prescribe this vitamin in combination with the sleep aid Unisom to help battle morning sickness, says Dr. Burroughs. (There’s a specific prescription that combines both drugs in one medication, but she often has people buy the two separately over the counter if their insurance doesn’t cover it.) As with any supplement, talk to your doctor before trying it to ensure that the dosage is appropriate and safe for your individual health needs.
• Ginger: “There’s some research out there that ginger actually helps with nausea,” says Dr. Burroughs, so she’s typically fine with patients trying ginger candies or lollipops to help with their nausea.
• Hard candies: There’s not a lot of hard science behind this morning sickness remedy, but many expectant parents find sucking on candies or mints helpful for staving off nausea. “The hard candy just helps to settle the gastric juices,” says Dr. Burroughs, which might help curb that upset stomach feeling. (They might also take away any bad tastes in your mouth that make eating or drinking water harder.)
• Acupressure bands: This is another nausea remedy that Dr. Burroughs sometimes recommends to her patients. These bands (which are sometimes referred to as “nausea bands” or “morning sickness bands”) are worn on the wrists and apply slight pressure to a specific point to help reduce nausea.
  Crackers: Eating bland foods like crackers first thing in the morning can greatly help settle your stomach, says Dr. Burroughs. (Bland foods also can be gentle on an angry, nauseous digestive tract.)

If these measures don’t help, or you go more than 24 hours without being able to tolerate even liquids, definitely talk to your doctor for help. She might prescribe you Zofran or other anti-nausea medications that are safe for pregnancy.

How we chose the best products for morning sickness and nausea during pregnancy

Morning sickness and pregnancy nausea are tricky to manage, because what works for one person doesn’t always work for another. (For example, your BFF might swear by ginger ale, but it may do nothing for your nausea.) For that reason, we leaned on the What to Expect community to get a better sense of what products worked best for the majority of moms. We scoured dozens of discussion threads and cross-referenced all the things moms said worked best with the expert guidance above. The result? This list of products to relieve morning sickness and pregnancy nausea. We’re willing to bet there’s something in here that can help you, too.