Acupuncture works for morning sickness, and although nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is known as morning sickness, only about 1.8% of women report it occurring strictly in the morning, but 80% report nausea through the day. Additionally, 50-80% of women experience some form of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. The nausea involved in morning sickness can vary widely from mild to severe to some that require hospitalization for dehydration. Conventional medicine has yet to pinpoint exactly what causes morning sickness, but is often chalked up to the changes in hormones that come with pregnancy. Due to this, it is difficult for conventional medicine to treat effectively, not only because the cause is uncertain, but also because there are limited conventional treatments that are also safe for the fetus.
Morning Sickness Basics
Morning sickness, or nausea gravidarum in the medical world, is one of the earliest signs of pregnancy in women usually occurring in the first few months. However, even though it is more common in the early months of pregnancy, woman can experience this well into the 2nd trimester, and some even experience it through the duration of the pregnancy. It can last all day and range widely in severity from mild nausea only to extreme nausea accompanied by vomiting (known as hyperemesis gravidarum in the medical world). although conventional medicine has not determined the precise cause for morning sickness, there are some theories as to its cause.
Potential Causes for Morning Sickness:
- Hormones – the hCG hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin) levels, which is produced by the placenta, are at their highest in the first trimester of pregnancy. This hormone in addition to increased estrogen and progesterone levels are thought to potentially cause nausea.
- Stress and fatigue – also theorized to increase the development of morning sickness.
- Brain stem – being that the brain is the center that controls nausea and vomiting, and the way the brain stem responds to pregnancy hormones may cause morning sickness.
- Decreased blood sugar – this can happen to many women in the early stages of pregnancy.
Although the symptoms of morning sickness are fairly self-explanatory, causing nausea, dizziness, smell sensitivity, aversion to food, and possibly occasional vomiting. It is important to know when these symptoms become too much that it may affect the baby.
Extreme Morning Sickness Symptoms:
- Dizzy after vomiting
- Heart palpitations
- Vomiting 3 – 4 times or more per day
- Losing weight during pregnancy (exceeding 10 pounds)
For the most part, conventional providers will provide diet options to ease the stomach or have the patient take over the counter medicines like Pepto-Bismol. Morning sickness is one of the most dreaded symptoms among pregnant women only second to giving birth, and it can be distressing on top of the many changes that pregnancy brings with it. Acupuncture is an all-natural treatment, and since there are no pharmaceuticals involved, there will be no effect on the development of the baby.
Acupuncture for Morning Sickness
Acupuncture treatment offers pregnant women an effective alternative to mitigating nausea and vomiting. It is natural, especially when you have grown in a world of conventional medicine, to wonder how hair-thin needles and strategic points can help ease your morning sickness. Acupuncture has been used to treat morning sickness, along with a multitude of other conditions for thousands of years successfully. Unlike conventional medicine, acupuncture works to treat the unique individual, not strictly the symptoms of the condition. Being that each woman’s body makeup, pregnancy, and morning sickness is different, they should also be treated medically differently not with a blanket treatment for everyone.
Acupuncture Works for Morning Sickness By:
- Increases the secretion of feel-good hormones like endorphins – by increasing endorphins, the body naturally generates an analgesic effect decreasing discomfort and pain.
- Decreases stress – acupuncture treatment regulates the hormones related to stress management decreasing stress levels.
- Decreases the secretion of stomach acid – during pregnancy when hormones increase, stomach acid secretion also can increase. It also helps with decreasing fluid secretion in the small intestine.
- Increases ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) secretion – this hormone is released to help the body decrease its stress response. Acupuncture treatment regulates the function of the ACTH hormone as well as the HPAA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis).
Acupuncture is effective in resolving nausea as well as increasing your energy which also tends to decrease with the beginning stages of pregnancy. From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective when a woman becomes pregnant, a good portion of blood and Qi (the vital energy force within the body) are directed to the pelvic region to nourish the uterus and developing baby. Along with this sudden surge of energy, away from other areas of the body, it can cause what TCM calls an imbalance in the Stomach leading to morning sickness. When you go to a licensed acupuncturist for morning sickness, they will not only do your acupuncture treatment, but they will also recommend lifestyle and diet changes that will aid in decreasing feelings of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
In addition to morning sickness, acupuncture works for a variety of other pregnancy symptoms like, breech baby position, placenta development, insomnia, stress and anxiety, high blood pressure, joint pain, fatigue, heartburn, and more. Acupuncture treatment for morning sickness will help at a minimum take the edge off of nausea and vomiting, but many women find it resolves completely with acupuncture.
The great thing about acupuncture treatment as opposed to western medicine is that while there is a time and place for western medicine, when it comes to things like pregnancy symptoms, acupuncture rectifies multiple issues with just one treatment. Alternatively, in western medicine, there are multiple treatments and/or medications for various pregnancy symptoms. According to a study from October 2024, Acupuncture for Nausea and Vomiting During Pregnancy, it was found that acupuncture with western medicine was more effective than western medicine alone, and even acupuncture alone is as effective as western medicine. Acupuncture could be the all-natural alternative treatment your seeking for your journey through pregnancy and beyond, and can absolutely help with morning sickness and more.