I knew that pregnant women are sensitive to the strong smell, what I did not know that it can make you run for the hills. This heightened sense of smell during pregnancy is also known as hyperosmia. In some women, hyperosmia can trigger nausea and headaches. I love steamed broccoli, roasted carrots and stuffed capsicums. However, during my first trimester, it was hard to even think about them. I loathed the strong smell of cruciferous vegetables, onion, garlic and cumin. Not only food, but I also couldn’t even stand the smell of cologne, perfumes, shower gel, medicine, cleaning agents, vinegar etc. I made a few changes in my dietary habits and lifestyle that helped me breath easy during those initial days.
- Less cooking: We preferred to outsource our food during my first trimester than cooking at home. We live in a small apartment and kitchen is not well equipped with good exhaust or ventilation. Hence, if we cook at home, the smell of food lingers all day long in the house. So whenever family craved for curry or Chinese cuisines, we just ordered it.
- Take-aways or open spaces: I preferred takeaways then eating in a restaurant, the smell of various food would make me sick to the stomach (in the literal sense). Plus, you can’t tell people sitting on the table next to you, ” please don’t order fish, its smell makes me sick”. Restaurants with plenty of open spaces worked better for me.
- Salads: Cold food smell-less and we like salads so we made salads quite often during our first-trimester. Honestly, I lived on tomatoes, cucumber, apples and banana.
- Good smell: There were a few smells that I liked, and the smell of coffee was one of them. I did not drink much coffee, but just smelling freshly ground coffee made me feel better. A visit to a nearby cafe for breakfast was also a good option. You can also keep some roasted coffee beans in a small jar and smell it whenever you need. I also liked the smell of ginger-based shampoo and conditioner.
- Fragrance-free alternative: I switched to fragrance-free alternatives in cosmetics. Particularly, the face cream, moisturiser and lip balm
- Polite request: I requested my partner to not to use strong perfumes and other cosmetics for time-being. That helped me get a good night sleep.
I read a few interesting theories around the increased sense of smell during pregnancy. One theory states that it is an inbuilt mechanism of the body to protect pregnant women from eating bad food or food that is going to cause discomfort in the stomach (such as onion and cruciferous vegetables can cause bloating and indigestion).
Another theory states that pregnant women react differently to their partner’s smell. It can be primal instinct kicking into either seeking protection from the partner ( that he will protect you and your baby) or protective instinct within yourself, that you can handle things yourself.
The first theory kind of makes more sense to me, because I am convinced (credit goes to documentaries made by David Attenborough and Nail Degreases Tyson) that our body has evolved over the millennia and this heightened sense of smell can protect mother and baby from food poisoning.
The more scientific reason was given that during pregnancy, blood volume increases in our body, that means more of everything is reaching the brain faster and in larger quantity, that include the sense of smell.
Whatever is the reason and function of this change in our body, it’s not easy to cope with in this modern world that is full of strong fragrances. Just remember, it is not going last long.
All the best!
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