Morning sickness has no cure

(Jason Stitt)

Cochrane researchers at the Dublin City University in Ireland conducted a systematic review of morning sickness, nausea and other symptoms associated with pregnancy, therapies and found none are "safe and effective."

The study reviewed 27 trials with 4041 pregnant (20 weeks) women to note levels of nausea with the use of treatments like acupuncture, use of ginger, anti-vomiting drugs and vitamin B6.

Anne Matthews, MSc, PhD, BSocSc, RGN, RM, a professor and researcher at the School of Nursing at Dublin City University in Ireland, led the study and explained, "A number of the studies we looked at appeared to show benefits, but in general the results were inconsistent and it was difficult to draw firm conclusions about any one treatment in particular.

"We were also unable to obtain much information about whether these treatments are actually making a difference to women's quality of life."

Matthews noted, "Despite the wealth of different treatments available, it is not possible currently to identify with confidence any safe and effective interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy," and made a call for more study adding there is a "need for further, more rigorous trials in this area."

That being said if you are suffering day or night with an upset belly and nausea you might want to try some of Childbirth.com's home remedies such as sniffing lemon peels, suck on fresh ginger (popular in Asia, could cause heartburn), spoons full of apple cider vinegar and honey before bed and wearing motion sickness bands (BioBands $11.95/€9.27, Sea-Band £7.99/€9.60). http://www.childbirthsolutions.com/articles/pregnancy/morningsick/index.php

Full study, "Interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy" to be published in the September 8 edition of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010: http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/view/0/index.html