Book Report by Laura Dolson (dolson@cruzio.com)

No More Morning Sickness_ by Miriam Erick  ISBN 0-452-26983-0

Miriam Erick is a registered dietician at the Brigham and Women's
Hospital in Boston.  The blurb in the book says she is an expert 
in hyperemesis gravidarum, which is a medical term for "pregnant
women who throw up a lot."  Although the title of the book is quite  
exaggerated, (the book never promises to stop the nausea, just control
it as much as possible) all I can say is "It's about time!"

One of the strongest facets of the book for me, apart from the specific
advice, was the message of "you are not alone."  Studies show that
at least 50% of pregnant women suffer some degree of nausea, with
some studies up to 90%.  Many myths are debunked, including the popular
"it's all in your head", and "it will stop by the 13th week".  The average
duration is 17.4 weeks, with 25% continuing to week 20.  It is not
uncommon to have 9 months of nausea, though that certainly isn't the
rule.  (I personally VIVIDLY remember the first meal I ate where food
tasted GOOD, when Emily was 3 days old!)  The emotional side of the
problem is discussed, although not in enough detail for my taste.

Although she has some other suggestions, there are really two corner-
stones to Erick's plan.  The first is Odor Control, where she makes 
such innovative suggestions as carrying a washcloth moistened with 
water and lemon in a zip-lock, to whip out at the first sign of odor,
or even making a "necklace" with a lemon wedge wrapped in a handkerchief.
Maybe I could have even read the newspaper using this approach, who knows?
(The smell of the newsprint made me gag, I'm not lying.)

The second biggie for controlling nausea, according to Erick, is figuring
out what specific foods, or categories of foods, will help.  Erick has
had great success with this, and cites examples of women who had been
hospitalized several times, and who were finally able to break the cycle
with sour-cream-and-onion potato chips or carrot and celery sticks dipped
in vinegar.  She goes into a lot of detail to help the reader nail down
the foods that might help, and some of them are pretty odd!  But I must
admit that upon hearing the suggestion in one section of lemon pie
filling, I couldn't help but imagine that that might have been a good
idea for me, given that I drank gallons of lemonade while pregnant!
After nailing down your categories, Erick gives suggestions of how to
provide these with a minimum of cooking and a maximum of convenience
(odors, again, and the need to get the food when needed quickly).  Recipes
are included, with their accompanying categories (tangy, salty, etc)
included.

In addition, there are sections about hospitalization, dealing with 
nausea at work, nutrition, possible complications, and effects on the
lives of the partners having to deal with this.

All in all, I'm sure more could be written on the topic, and the content
seems scanty at times, but it's a great start, when you consider the
vast numbers of women and their partners who have suffered through this,
I say again "It's About Time!!!".