Homeopathy in pregnancy and childbirth - Part 1

Like I said in a previous post where I wrote about the top 10 reasons why you should choose homeopathy, homeopathy is safe to use during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum period. This is one of the most important phases of a woman's life, where many changes happen, and sometimes a woman needs some kind of support to relieve minor discomforts or in case of any difficulties. Homeopathy can offer a lot of assistance to a woman in all the stages of pregnancy, including pre- and post-natal periods. I will cover this topic in a series of posts. In this post, let's see how homeopathy can help morning sickness in the first trimester.

First Trimester

In the first trimester, nausea is a common symptom of pregnancy, accompanied by loss of appetite. In most cases, it is mild and does not cause any problems (morning sickness). However, some women experience severe nausea and vomiting that is very distressing. It is called hyperemesis gravidarum. Some remedies that can help both mild and severe conditions are:

Colchicum: The woman has extreme nausea from smell of food, even thoughts of food produce nausea. She is especially sensitive to cooking eggs and fish, craves many things but feels sick on eating anything. Her nausea is worse from movement.

Colchicum autumnale

Ipecac: She has severe and persistent nausea not relieved by vomiting, accompanied by increased salivation.

Pulsatilla: She is weepy and wants company always. She feels better in cool, open air and her nausea is worse in a warm room. She has frequent headaches. She wants to eat sweets and foods rich in fat but they make her nausea worse.

Nux vomica: Her nausea is somewhat relieved by vomiting, but is worse a few hours after eating. Nausea in the morning on waking up, with indigestion. She is irritable, angry, and impatient.

These are just a few remedies that can be used for nausea in pregnancy.


Some other things that you can do to relieve nausea are:

1. Eat a small breakfast in bed. (Here's a chance for your SO to pamper you!) Snack on some dry toast or crackers and have a few sips of juice before getting out of bed. If you like to drink water, add some lemon juice to it. Water is an emetic and drinking it straight first thing in the morning may increase your nausea.

2. Keep snacking through the day on healthy snacks like fresh fruit and vegetables, peanut butter, hummus, boiled eggs, etc. Nausea is worsened on an empty stomach, so keep snacking often.

3. Stay hydrated. Add a few drops of lemon juice to your water and keep sipping it through the day. Dehydration worsens nausea.

4. Chew on a piece of crystallized ginger or fennel (saunf) or carom seeds (ajwain). You can also make teas with ginger, fennel, and carom.

5. Stay stress free, rest and relax. When you feel a bout of nausea, get up and go for a walk in open air if possible. 


In part-2, we will see how homeopathy can help in the second and third trimesters.




Disclaimer: Do not attempt to self-medicate. Always consult a homeopath who will guide you and help you find the correct remedy for your symptoms.
 
Image courtesy Carsten aus Bonn