You wanted to know why you feel nauseated when you nurse or pump. And this is actually a thing. Some mothers do experience this in the early weeks after having a baby, and for most, it goes away by about the 6th to 8th week postpartum, but for some, it persists. If your baby is a little bit older, then you should consider pregnancy if you weren’t nauseous in the past but then you start to get nauseated while nursing when your baby is a little bit older. Take a pregnancy test to find out if that’s the cause. But in the early days, it’s thought to be oxytocin. This is the hormone that is released when your milk is let down. And for some women, it causes nausea. For others, it may cause headaches. Some women even feel depressed, or anxious, or angry when their milk lets down. So if you’ve experienced any of these other sensations or feelings while breastfeeding, it may very well be the release of oxytocin. Now, for nausea, specifically, there are things you can do to combat it, and it’s very similar to what you did during pregnancy to help with morning sickness. Eat a cracker or a piece of bread before or during nursing and make sure you’re drinking a lot of fluid. Even if you’re not thirsty, drink some more water or something that tastes good that you can stand the thought of while you’re nursing, and this should help to calm your stomach a little bit. Also keep in mind that after you’ve had a baby, you’re usually sleep deprived, and this can cause nausea as well, and so it’s easier said than done, but get as much rest as you can. Sleep when your baby sleeps, especially if this is your first. You have an opportunity to nap when your baby naps and you should take advantage of that. If you have other children to care for and you can’t nap every time your baby sleeps, then turn to friends and family. Ask them if they’d be willing to come over to your house for an hour or two so that you can catch up on some much needed sleep. If the nausea persists, and/or gets worse, or you have other sensations associated with it that you’re concerned about, talk with your doctor, and after asking more specific questions, they can give you tailored information and advice about it. If you have more questions in the future for me, feel free to ask them on our Intermountain Moms Facebook and Instagram pages, and recommend us to your friends and family too.