Everyone has heard of morning sickness. When you hear the word pregnancy, I guarantee that the words morning sickness are in close proximity. Morning sickness affects a lot of women. Some say two-thirds while others claim three-fourths. Either way, a lot of women experience the dreaded morning sickness.
Morning sickness can vary in severity from woman to woman and even from pregnancies. Morning sickness can be a little nausea during the morning or it can be nausea and vomiting all day. Morning sickness can actually happen any time of the day.
On top of happening throughout the day and with a varying degree of severity, no one really know why morning sickness occurs. My belief is that it has to do with an orchestra of events that occur from altered blood sugar levels, nutrient deficiencies, and fluctuating hormone levels.
Preparing for a pregnancy can help alleviate morning sickness.
More and more I get the question as to when should a couple start preparing for birth. More times than not I want to say NOW;) However, my answer is usually a minimum of six months prior to conceiving.
Why?
Both parties (the two who are donating their genetic material) need to clean up their nutrition, exercise, and allow time to grow spiritually. It takes a minimum of thirty days to clean up your diet. This does not mean eating less. This means eliminating processed foods, artificial sugars, and other crap from your diet. If you already know that you are lacking nutrients in some areas, then now is the time to start to build those nutrient stores up.
So, what nutrients are beneficial?
Magnesium is known to support hormone fluctuations. Time and time again I hear in the office how magnesium supplementation alleviated or lessened morning sicks. Start to load up on magnesium prior to conception if possible. Vit D, calcium, Vit B6, and Vit 12 are all needed to absorb magnesium. Therefore, just supplementing with magnesium probably won’t be enough. Embrace a nutrient rich diet, so that magnesium supplementation will be effective. Focus on quality animal protein and products. Bone broths, liver, and raw milk are incredibly nutrient dense.
Be sure to check out Lily Nichols’s book Real Food for Pregnancy for lots more information on nutrition.
So, what if I’m already pregnant?
Start now. Supplement with magnesium. Preferably powder and/or an oil. Make sure you are getting enough Vit D, Vit B6, and Vit B12. Soak up the sunshine first thing in the day and enjoy quality meat. Sip on bone broth or LMNT for a hydration bonus. Eat smaller meals more frequently, always with a protein. Practice the BIRTHFIT Basics and breathing. Get outside and move, even if it’s just a walk around the block. Take one day at a time. You’ve got this.