Treating HG naturally
The placenta and umbilical cord are a wonderful little creation - the only time in a human’s life when they grow an entirely new organ to satisfy a specific job. For the duration of your pregnancy, these two amazing structures will nourish your baby, get it ready for life on the outside and help it grow big and strong. And how do they do that? By sucking the life out of the mother - pretty much literally. Did you know that osteoporosis is so prevalent in women who’ve been pregnant because the developing baby will actually draw on the calcium stores buried deep in the mother’s bones? Isn’t that amazing and terrifying in equal measure.
This is all to say that we know that whatever we put into our bodies during pregnancy will make it’s way to the baby. We know there are some big ‘no-nos’ when it comes to what you consume while pregnant; Blue cheese? Probably give it a miss. Raw fish? Don’t even try it. Crystal meth? Not a good idea. But what happens when you have to turn to pharmaceuticals in order to survive your pregnancy? How do you rationalise that with all the messaging about what is/isn’t safe in pregnancy? And what if pharmaceuticals aren’t for you?
Ultimately, how you choose to conduct your pregnancy is nobody’s business but yours. If you’re making informed decisions about your care, in consultation with your medical practitioners and support networks, then that’s all good with us. But there are a couple of things we’d like to mention that we think are important to consider during pregnancies marred by NVP and HG.
1. Doctors know what they’re doing - and we should trust them
If your doctor is prescribing you medication - whether it’s ondansetron, doxylamine or corticosteroids - it’s because they believe it’s the best thing for you. While no one can say 100% that these medications are completely safe for pregnancy (because no one is running drug trials on pregnant women) you can still feel confident in using them. Your doctor only has your, and your baby’s, best interests in mind when prescribing anything and will not give you something that will cause harm.
2. Leaving NVP and HG untreated will do more harm than good
While it may seem like the safest option is to take nothing with the potential to cause harm - as all medications do - you can actually be doing yourself and the baby more harm by leaving your symptoms untreated. Studies show that longterm dehydration and malnutrition, like what we see in women with NVP and HG, are more detrimental to the developing baby than the medications we use to treat these conditions. Plus, there’s the longterm impact on the mother’s health and her recovery from pregnancy and labour.
3. There is NO evidence to suggest alternative therapies work
While there is a wealth of research that confirms the drugs routinely used to treat HG and NVP are effective, there is no evidence to suggest that any alternative therapies work. While women who experience one or two periods of nausea a day, or the occasional vomiting episode, may find that ginger or acupressure (including SeaBands) work to alleviate their symptoms, women with NVP or HG will have no such luck. In fact, the newly released SOMANZ Guidelines state that in two studies on acupressure ‘neither found clinically significant improvement in symptoms’. The guide goes on to say ‘generally, you should not use over-the-counter remedies for sickness and vomiting whilst you are pregnant unless recommended by your doctor, midwife or pharmacist.’
However, if your symptoms are mild and you’d like to try natural remedies before going down the pharmaceutical route, here are the things to try as recommended by the SOMANZ Guidelines:
Eating small but frequent meals may help. Some people say that sickness is made worse by not eating anything at all. If you eat some food regularly, it may help to ease symptoms. Eat whatever you can, when you can. Don’t worry too much about a balanced diet at this time. There may be some foods you really want and others you can’t stand. Cold meals may be better if nausea is associated with food smells
Ginger. Some studies have shown that taking ginger tablets or syrup may be effective for relieving feelings of sickness (nausea) and vomiting in pregnancy. However, care should be taken, as the quality of ginger products varies. Before you take a ginger product, you should discuss this with a pharmacist, midwife or GP. Food containing ginger may also help
Avoiding triggers. Some women find that a trigger can set off the sickness. For example, a smell or emotional stress. If possible, avoid anything that may trigger your symptoms
Having lots to drink to avoid lack of fluid in the body (dehydration) may help. Drinking little and often rather than large amounts may help to prevent vomiting. Try to aim to drink at least one to two litres of some sort of fluid each day
Rest. Make sure that you have plenty of rest and sleep in early pregnancy. Being tired is thought to make nausea and vomiting during pregnancy worse
We can’t stress enough that this advice will only be effective for women whose symptoms are at the VERY mild end of the spectrum. We encourage you to give them a go if you’d like but remember that NVP and HG are illnesses like any other and must be treated with the seriousness you would an infection or disease of any kind. We wholeheartedly support the recommendations of the SOMANZ Guidelines and believe that pharmaceutical intervention is the ONLY way to guarantee a decrease in the severity and longevity of suffering. As always, we give you this information so that you can have the appropriate conversations with your care providers.