Heightened Smell During Pregnancy: Is That True

From the first trimester of your pregnancy, you might undergo several physical and emotional changes. A heightened sense of smell, also known as hypersomnia, is one of the early signs of pregnancy along with morning sickness. As you progress with your pregnancy, this sense of smell might gradually decrease.

The feeling is really strange. A slight odour can suddenly become overwhelming. While the smells you didn’t like once upon a time, seem quite delightful to you now, there are certain smells you loved, which may now make your stomach turn upside down. Sometimes, you might not even like your partner’s perfume.

Reasons For a Heightened Sense of Smell During Pregnancy

The rising oestrogen and HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) hormones are responsible for giving rise to the other pregnancy symptoms, like:

• Nausea or morning sickness and
• Taste changes during your early pregnancy. These same hormones are also responsible for making you get a strong odour during your pregnancy too

Common Smells that Trigger This Pregnancy Smell Sensitivity

Pregnant women experience different levels of smell sensitivity, including you. However, a few common smells that trigger this sensitivity are:

• Cigarettes
• Alcohol
• Coffee
• Fried foods
• Meat, fish, and eggs
• Detergent powder
• Public toilets, smell of urine, etc

Ways To Deal With the Sense of Smell During Pregnancy

Since this strong pregnancy smell sensitivity, can be really uncomfortable and unbearable, however, there are a few techniques that will help you manage the situation. The simple tips are:

Eat Smart

Try not to eat those foods, the smell of which will trigger nausea. Replace those scrambled eggs or fried foods with yoghurt parfait.

Keep Everything Clean

Usually body odours stick to the clothes you wear. They also stick to the bed cover you sleep on. Therefore, ensure that you wash clothes and bed cover at regular intervals.

Always Keep Your Fridge Clean

Since your everyday food goes in and out of the fridge, it is possible that you’ll get a bad smell from your refrigerator too. So, ensure that you clean your fridge with some baking soda on a weekly basis.

Keep Yourself Away From Smoke

Smoking during pregnancy is in any case harmful for the developing baby in your womb. Along with this heightened smell can make things worse. Ensure that you stay away from bad smells or anything that emits harmful gases.

Keep Yourself Surrounded By Some Pleasant Smells

You keep yourself surrounded by some pleasant smells like:

• Your favourite soap
• An old book
• A sweet-smelling diffuser within the house. Peppermint candies for example can help you smell better
• Chewing small pieces of gums

This will also keep your nausea, especially during the early pregnancy at bay. Moreover, if the smell of the shampoos, soaps, or detergents disturbs you, opt for the same things with a flowery scent. 

Keep Your House Ventilated

Even if not your doors, keep your windows open to allow air to come into your house. This is particularly during the summer season. However, during the winter season, step outside the house wearing a sweater to get a breath of fresh air. You might just smell something nice.

Well! This is a natural phenomenon during your pregnancy and the heightened sense of smell declines after you’ve delivered your baby. Keep the above-mentioned way-outs in mind and avoid those smells that irritate you during your pregnancy. Also, follow our blog page to get some more insight on pregnancy and the benefits of cord blood banking.