Acupuncture for Morning Sickness

How Chinese medicine understands morning sickness

Nausea on its own is covered on the nausea page. Pregnancy has its own reading of it.

In Chinese medicine, the Stomach’s energy should move downward. In early pregnancy, Blood and Qi gather in the womb to nourish the baby. The Chong vessel, a deep channel linked with the womb, becomes full, and its energy tends to rise. As it rises it can carry the Stomach’s energy up with it. That upward push is how Chinese medicine explains nausea and vomiting in the first trimester, and why it usually settles as the pregnancy moves on.

What decides the treatment is how your body responds to that rising energy. The common patterns are:

• Stomach weakness. Nausea with a poor appetite, tiredness and vomiting of thin fluid. It is often worse when you are hungry or tired.
• Liver and Stomach disharmony. Nausea with bitter or sour vomiting, belching, irritability and a feeling of tightness under the ribs. Stress and worry make it worse.
• Phlegm-damp. A heavy head, dizziness, a lot of saliva and a feeling of fullness in the chest. Greasy or sweet food makes it worse.

Knowing the pattern helps choose points that calm the Stomach without adding strain on a pregnancy.

What treatment involves

Your first visit is 75 minutes, including the diagnosis and the first treatment. It covers when the nausea comes, what sets it off, what you can eat and drink, your sleep and energy, and how the pregnancy is going. I ask a lot of questions and look at your tongue and take your pulse. Tell me how many weeks along you are, and who is looking after your pregnancy. Treatment should be arranged with your midwife’s or doctor’s knowledge.

Acupuncture aims to settle the Stomach and help its energy move down again. The inner wrist point, PC6, is one of the main points used for nausea. It is usually combined with a small number of other points chosen for your pattern. Some points, including several on the lower belly and lower back, are avoided in pregnancy. Treatment in pregnancy usually uses fewer needles, with you lying on your side or propped up if lying flat is uncomfortable.

Chinese herbal medicine needs particular care in pregnancy. Many herbs are avoided, so herbs are only considered with your midwife’s or doctor’s agreement. When they are used, the formula is written for you and dispensed at the clinic.

How often you come depends on how strong the nausea is and how far along you are. Follow-up visits are 60 minutes. The clinic is in Keswick. Treatment works alongside your prenatal care, and your midwife or doctor stays in charge of the pregnancy.

Between visits

• Eat a little, often. An empty stomach tends to make nausea worse. Keep plain crackers by the bed and eat a few before you get up.
• Sip fluids through the day. Small amounts between meals are easier to keep down than a big drink with food.
• Avoid the smells and foods that set you off. Cold food often smells less than hot food.
• Rest when you can. Tiredness makes nausea worse.
• Ask about prenatal vitamins. If the iron in them upsets your stomach, ask your midwife or doctor about options. Do not just stop them.

When to see your doctor first

Call your midwife or doctor, or go to the hospital, if you have:

• Severe or constant vomiting, being unable to keep fluids down for 24 hours, or signs of dehydration: very little or dark urine, a dry mouth, or dizziness when you stand.
• Weight loss while pregnant.
• Blood in your vomit.
• Any bleeding from the vagina, or cramping pain in your belly.
• Belly pain, fever, or a severe headache with the vomiting.
• Nausea that starts for the first time after about 10 weeks, or returns later in pregnancy. It can have other causes.
• Low mood, anxiety or feeling unable to cope. Talk to your midwife or doctor. If you are in crisis, call or text 9-8-8. In an emergency, call 911.