Sex & Morning Sickness

By Elena Ognivtseva

I realise that this post is somewhat of a departure from my usual topics (sex tips, sex toys, porn and sexual health), but with my step-sister about to reach her fifth month as a pregnant woman; pregnancy and babies is a huge topic of conversation in our house right now! My sister is lucky enough to have skipped the stresses and strains of enduring months of morning sickness, however another family remember has recently been suffering to such an extent that it has put her off having any more children! Her plight got me thinking about and researching natural ways to manage and perhaps even prevent morning sickness, and what I found surprised me!

The term 'morning sickness' is something of a misnomer as many women who suffer from a weak stomach during pregnancy can end up hugging the toilet bowl for a while regardless of the time of day or night. There are very few ways to treat this condition other than drinking ginger tea and eating dry bread to try and settle the stomach, and even these 'treatments' don't work for everyone! Surely the best cause of action would be to try and prevent morning sickness from ever becoming an issue.

So, as I mentioned above what I found was pretty surprising! It turns out that having lots of (unprotected) sex prior to conception could very well lead to a decrease in the instances of morning sickness in newly pregnant women, and scientific research seems to back up this theory. A psychologist called Gordon Gallup believes that the evidence which blames morning sickness of protective food aversions is sketchy at best and has carried out so research to find a better theory for why women suffer so. Gallup suggested that morning sickness can a result of not having much unprotected sex prior to conception. Let me explain; research suggests women who have spent more time attempting to get pregnant are far less likely to experience morning sickness than their easy to knock up sister. He suggests that allowing the woman's body to get used to her partners sperm will lead to less of an immune reaction to the foreign body now growing in her womb; i.e. the baby! If a woman has become pregnant without engaging in the physical act of love on a regular basis her body will not be used to her partners DNA and it may see the foetus as foreign tissue and react to it as though it were an infection by inducing vomiting. Basically he is saying that we ladies need to embrace our partners DNA a little more by greeting his sperm with open arms.

Now I'm not saying that I agree with Gallup as his ideas are pretty innovative and contentious, however any excuse to have more sex while trying to conceive can only be a good thing! What would be the harm in engaging in daily (or even twice daily!) sessions while you're trying to get pregnant? I'm certainly going to be taking his advice when I decide to have children!