Our remedies are certainly worth a try….

Morning Sickness isn’t a very accurate name for the nausea that often accompanies the first few weeks, or even months, of pregnancy: you can have it any time of the day. But regardless of when it strikes and whether or not you vomit, it certainly is not pleasant and can often make early pregnancy un-enjoyable.

Although it is relatively rare, women with severe morning sickness (Hyperemesis Gravidarum) can end up in hospital. If your pregnancy sickness is so severe that it interferes with your everyday life, is preventing you from gaining weight or even causing weight loss; you need to see your GP.

Friends and family will often offer their advice and remedies of what worked for them, however what works for one expectant mum may in fact make another feel worse, try them all until you find one that works best for you.

Recent research has suggested that Pregnancy Nausea may be nature’s way of regulating the diet, in helping you to avoid foods which may cause problems for mother or foetus. So you can find some comfort in that this awful feeling is serving an important purpose!

As you know, there is no cure for morning sickness, but here are a few suggestions that may help:

1. Eat little and often, but try to avoid rich fatty foods.
2. If it’s the strong smell of food which puts you off, try to get someone else to do the cooking.
3. Get plenty of sleep; tiredness can often make nausea worse.
4. Ginger is great for settling the stomach – taken either as a tea, biscuits or vapourising.
5. Lemon is a good purifier – just by smelling fresh cut lemon or adding a slice to your water.
6. Apply your Sea-Bands at the onset of nausea – these will work quickly and keep nausea at bay.

However, she was not delighted by the terrible morning sickness, which she had not experienced during her other pregnancies.  She suffered regular bouts of nausea during the first three months of her pregnancy.  She usually felt queasy as soon as she got out of bed.  She couldn’t face breakfast as the smell of breakfast made her feel worse so her other kids where left to fend for themselves.

Work was no better. The smell of the beauty treatments that she used on her clients also made her feel queasy and on one occasion she couldn’t excuse herself from a leg waxing session, and was actually sick over the client’s feet.  Fortunately, the client was a regular, and very forgiving.

Caz tried various different remedies including eating ginger biscuits, eating small regular meals and sipping hot tea, but none of them seemed to help.

Caz had almost given up and thought that she was just going to have to put up with the nausea, when a friend recommended she try Sea-Bands, the acupressure wristbands.  Fortunately, they worked just as well, and her morning sickness was gone instantly.

Every day, when Caz got up and felt nauseous, she just popped on the bands and the symptoms were gone within 10 minutes.

Why not try Sea-Bands and get Morning Sickness Relief now!  Let us know your story.

“3 years ago I gave birth to my first child, a little girl, but suffered terribly with morning sickness – nothing seemed to work for me.  So this time, after 3 weeks of feeling sick , I decided to approach my GP.  He suggested that I tried Sea-Bands, an elasticated wristband which works by stimulating acupressure points on the wrist.  I had heard of them as a treatment for travel sickness and was happy to try anything new – especially as there are no drugs involved so no chance of harming my unborn baby.

“I would put the bands on every morning about ten minutes before getting out of bed, and most mornings I found I wasn’t being sick at all.  But even if I was, I found that the nauseous feelings passed much quicker than before.  By the time I got to work I felt fine again – which is quite important since I work in a nursery with lots of noisy children!

“My morning sickness passed after about the 11^th week of pregnancy, and now 3 weeks later, I’ve only had to use them once – and that was when travelling on a bus (I suffer travel sickness as well!).”

Why not try Sea-Band for your morning sickness now and let us know how you get on?

While women develop their own ways of dealing with morning sickness, ginger beer or extra strong peppermints for example, there is evidence that acupressure can prevent and ease symptoms*.

Comments Leicestershire General Practitioner Dr Ian Cracknell: “We see around 200 pregnancies a year, and, in my experience a supportive partner and Sea-Bands acupressure wristbands can offer relief from morning sickness.  Many women see an improvement in their symptoms just by having an understanding partner who also helps them out, say around the house.   Those who have no partner, particularly single working women, often find it hard to cope because they lack this support system.

“I have also found Sea-Bands acupressure wristbands to be effective.  In fact, my wife had very bad morning sickness with our fourth child, and they worked for her.  Sea-Bands are a safe, drug-free way to combat morning sickness.”

Sea-Bands are elasticised wrist-bands with a button that exerts pressure on the pericardium 6 (P6) point on each wrist. They work by using the principles of acupressure.  It is believed that the continuous pressure unblocks energy channels near the surface of the skin to help restore a natural balance to the body.

Ideas for Dads-To-Be on how they can help relieve Morning Sickness.

*  references:

Dundee JW, Sourial FB, Ghaly RG, Bell PF.  P6 acupressure reduces morning sickness. J R Soc Med 1988 Aug;81(8):456-7

De Aloysio D, Penacchioni P.  Morning sickness control in early pregnancy by Neiguan point acupressure.  Obstet Gynecol 1992 Nov;80(5):852-4.

Mothers-to-be concerned about morning sickness should consult their General Practitioner.

We have finally broken free from the corsets of Victorian parenting. According to a recent survey we now put our kids first on holidays – no more ‘seen and not heard’! In possibly the largest survey of its type, over 7000 UK mothers bared their soul on travelling as a family, letting children have cake and [almost] forgetting who the adult is.

Sponsored by Sea-Band® travel bands, in conjunction with www.netmums.co.uk, the survey shows that over 70% of mums value the family time together that holidays afford, above all the challenges that family holidays inevitably bring: hard work planning and keeping the show on the road (25%), cost (36%), stress and the unpredictability of today’s travel (29%).

Once on holiday, other factors made the experience haphazard and challenging: children misbehaving ranked highest (82%), followed by illness (47%), with tummy-related problems (47%), colds (45%) and travel sickness (34%) among the top health problems likely to scupper meticulously planned activities.

On the topic of which parenting strategy worked best, respondents were split along two schools of thought – for half the key to success is in the precise planning and organizing of every detail [‘plan, plan, plan!’], for the rest flexibility and a touch of free spirit keeps them ready for any challenge [‘don’t sweat the small stuff and relax!’].

Says Siobhan Freegard, founder of www.netmums.co.uk, and parenting author, “Yes, holidays are great for the kids and parents should choose child-friendly places to go and activities to do to maximize this experience. But wouldn’t it be great if the adults could also feel on holiday, able to relax and enjoy themselves? ‘Bring along a grandparent’ was a great suggestion by many survey respondents, that way mum and dad also get bonding time!”

… and more www.netmums.co.uk top tips for putting kids first, without forgetting the adults!!

• Bring along your sense of humour
• Plan for travel sickness, always pack travel sickness wrist bands (Sea-Band®)
• Divide and conquer, use strategic seating to keep the kids apart
• Travel at night, or plan travel around their sleep time
• Pack a few surprise treats
• Get the kids to pack their own rucksack with things they like, and keep their stuff separate from adults for ease of access!
• Bribery always works

And a final word of wisdom, in case you worry about fellow passengers who “tut, tut” while you are in the middle of a crisis. … “let the kids be themselves, don’t care what other people think. Join in with them when they start squealing, and play games with them. You are on holiday too!”

Best product for travel sickness…

Sea-Band® is the motion sickness remedy choice of one-third of survey respondents.

The bands are available in fun, pink, blue and khaki/green camouflage, coloured bands for the kids, or larger, grey or black bands for adults. These acupressure wristbands are drug-free, do not cause drowsiness or interfere with other medications, and are suitable for everyone, young (from aged 3 years) and old.

Nausea is reduced within five minutes after applying Sea-Band® wristbands and they may be used before or after the onset of nausea. The recommend price is £7.99.

Sea-Band is available online at www.sea-band.com or from Lloydspharmacy, Superdrug, Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Morrisons and other pharmacies nationally.

Dating back over thousands of years, acupressure is part of the Oriental medical traditions of China, Japan, Korea, India and Tibet. By simply applying pressure to specific points on the body (known as acupoints), this simple and effective technique promotes the flow of energy within the body to both calm and strengthen the mind and spirit.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, illness results from an imbalance in the flow of Chi (life energy) through the body. Chi (pronounced Chee & sometimes spelt Qi) circulates round the body along a network of invisible channels beneath the skin called meridians. Dotted along the meridians are 2000 or so known acupoints, where chi is said to be concentrated and at which it enters and leaves the body.

Acupressure is the application of fingertip or thumb pressure at specific points on the body. There are also various acupressure devices available that you wear which exert continual pressure on specific points. This stimulates chi along the meridians and internal organs to promote health and prevent, or ease, health imbalances.

How does it work?

There are two main theories to explain how acupressure works.

1. ‘The Gate Control Theory’ – In simple terms, nerves carrying pressure messages reach the brain faster than other messages such as pain or nausea. As the brain can only receive so many messages at once, the ‘gate’ is closed by the time the pain signals arrive
2. Endorphin release – The pressure appears to stimulate nerve fibres running up the spinal cord and this ultimately results in the production of endorphins. Endorphins are pain-relieving chemicals that inhibit the brain’s perception of pain, especially when associated with anxiety or stress.

What are the benefits?

One of the key benefits of acupressure is that it is easy to learn so anyone can practise it at anytime whether they are a beginner or an expert. Other than this, it is safe because it is drug-free and cost-effective, as it does not require any special equipment or creams – just a pair of hands and the desire to develop the sense of touch!

What is it good for?

Acupressure is effective as a preventative as well as a curative for a whole host of common health complaints, such as nausea, pain and stress, headaches and migraine, anxiety, insomnia, PMS, menopausal symptoms, digestive problems and first aid.

How do you do it?

The following are brief instructions to get you started:

• Apply pressure to the relevant acupoint using your fingertips, thumbs or the nail edge (which should be clean and smooth)
• Apply pressure gently at first, gradually increasing to the point where a mild sensation, but not pain, is felt
• Pressure can be sustained or by locating the point, applying pressure, releasing, relaxing and repeating the sequence several times
• As a general rule, apply pressure in the direction of flow of the meridian
• Remember to locate and apply pressure to the acupoint on both sides of the body for bilateral points .

For example, the Pericardium 6 point relieves nausea and travel sickness. It is located between the tendons on the inside arm, 3 finger widths above the wrist crease closest to the palm.

Are there any side effects?

Acupressure is a safe, non-invasive technique but there are some points to bear in mind:

• Do not treat anyone under the influence of alcohol or non-medicinal drugs
• Be careful if the patient is extremely weak, sensitive, fatigued or pregnant (only use light pressure)
• Never apply pressure directly on cuts, wounds, scars, bruises or veins.

* 2002 Acupressure Step by Step, Jacqueline Young, (Thorsons) 1994