New guidelines to help pregnant women suffering from nausea and vomiting have just been recently released by The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC).
The new guidelines are published in the SOGC’s peer-reviewed Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada (JOGC) and is titled, “The Management of Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy”.
The new guidelines have 13 recommendations that cover diet and lifestyle changes, non-pharmacological therapies and pharmacological therapies to help with nausea and vomitting during pregnancy, which can affect up to 80% of women. Some of the recommendations are listed below.
Prenatal Vitamins
One of the key recommendations for women suffering from morning sickness and who don't have iron deficiency is that they can stop taking iron-containing prenatal vitamins. They can instead substitute it for a lower dose iron prenatal during the 1st trimester. Iron requirements increase during the 2nd and 3rd trimester, but not so much during the 1st trimester. The new guidelines also suggest that vitmain B6 (Pyridoxine) can help allieviate morning sickness.
Did you know that Prenatal Ease Stage 1 is specially formulated for women in their 1st trimester? It contains lower levels of iron compared to Prenatal Ease Stage 2 and Stage 3. This helps to alleviate morning sickness and constipation that are both common during the 1st trimester. Our Prenatal Ease Stage 1 is recognized by The SOGC.
Dietary and Lifestyle Changes
Another great recommendation is that women can eat whatever pregnancy-safe food that appeals to them! There is no evidence that specific dietary changes, like eating bland foods, avoiding fatty foods or cold drinks, can allievate morning sickness. Feel free to eat whatever you feel helps you mimimize morning sickness.
Ginger
Another key recommendation is that ginger is a great way to help allieviate morning sickness. Ginger is a safe option with minimal side effects for women suffering from morning sickness. Also, since ginger is unregulated in foods, it may have different composition or purity depending on the preparation. Look for pharmaceutical-grade ginger like the type you find in Prenatal Ease Stage 1.
With these new recommendations, hopefully many more women will find relief for morning sickness. For the full recommendations, please click here.