Freezie Remedy to Alleviate Morning Sickness

Effectiveness of a Natural Non-medicinal Freezie Remedy to Alleviate Morning Sickness

The primary objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Lillipops in the improvement of morning sickness symptoms. Secondary objectives are to assess if there are any changes to concurrent symptoms that may intensify NVP, such as metallic taste or gastrointestinal issues (e.g. heartburn, acid reflux, indigestion and gas), as well as preference for freezie flavours.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Morning Sickness
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Lillipops Iced Soothies (4 flavours); Other: Lillipop Iced Soothies (Ginger flavour); Other: Mr. Freeze Freezies

Detailed Description

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) is the most common medical condition of pregnancy, also known as morning sickness which affects up to 80% of pregnant women. Lillipops Iced Soothies are naturally flavoured freezies developed in the United Kingdom for women with morning sickness. They are available in 5 different flavours: grapefruit and tangerine, lemon and mint, chamomile and orange, lime and vanilla, and ginger. The flavours are derived from steam distillation of the peels (grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, orange, lime), mint leaves, and chamomile flowers to release and collect their essential oils. Vanilla pods and ginger are macerated and their resin is used. These flavours are chosen because they may provide relief of symptoms as they are either traditional remedies for NVP, such as ginger, or soothing and refreshing flavours, such as chamomile, vanilla and citrus.

This study hypothesizes that using Lillipops Iced Soothies will reduce the severity of NVP symptoms according to the PUQE-24 (pregnancy-unique quantification of emesis and nausea) scoring system for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. In addition, we hypothesize concurrent symptoms that may intensify NVP, such as metallic taste or gastrointestinal disorders (e.g. heartburn, acid reflux, indigestion and gas), will be alleviated. We hypothesize that improvements to NVP and concurrent symptoms will be greater with Lillipop freezies compared to another commercially available freezie.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 54
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1X8
      • The Hospital For Sick Children

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Pregnancy between 4 and 12 weeks gestation.
• Pregnant women with NVP, regardless of treatment (if any) for their NVP.
• Provide the signed informed consent form prior to initial interview.
• Able to come in person to Sick Kids or meet at an agreed location.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Gestational age beyond 12 weeks of pregnancy.
• Pregnant women less than 18 years of age.
• Women who are not proficient in the English language.
• Unable to consume any of the ingredients listed in Lillipops or Mr. Freeze freezies due to allergies, medication interactions or other reasons.
• Women refusing to avoid sources of ginger products for the duration of the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Lillipops Iced Soothies (4 flavours); Initially, women will be given 1 multiflavour box of Lillipop samples minus the ginger flavour (4 flavours). Each box contains 24 freezies (20 mL each), 6 of each flavor. They will be told to eat the freezies as needed to alleviate symptoms, up to a maximum of 12 per day, and to not have any other popsicles, freezies or any ginger products throughout the duration of the study (7 days). They can request an additional multiflavour box of freezies at each follow-up, as needed. All participants will initially receive counselling and advice by the Motherisk NVP Counsellor about symptom management. This includes advice about dietary, non-medicinal and medical treatments as per the Motherisk NVP protocol	Other: Lillipops Iced Soothies (4 flavours); Lillipops Iced Soothies are naturally flavoured freezies developed in the United Kingdom for women with morning sickness. They are available in 5 different flavours: grapefruit and tangerine, lemon and mint, chamomile and orange, lime and vanilla, and ginger. The flavours are derived from steam distillation of the peels (grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, orange, lime), mint leaves, and chamomile flowers to release and collect their essential oils. Vanilla pods and ginger are macerated and their resin is used. These flavours were chosen because they may provide relief of symptoms as they are either traditional remedies for NVP, such as ginger, or soothing and refreshing flavours, such as chamomile, vanilla and citrus.
Experimental: Lillipop Iced Soothies (Ginger flavour); Initially, women will be given 1 Ginger flavor box of Lillipop samples. Each box contains 24 freezies (20 mL each). Each 20ml contains 80mg of dried ginger root. They will be told to eat the freezies as needed to alleviate symptoms, up to a maximum of 12 a day and to not have any other popsicles, freezies or other ginger products throughout the duration of the study (7 days). Due ginger's antiemetic property, a maximum daily dose is up to 1000mg/day of dried ginger root powder in pregnancy.They can request an additional box of freezies at each follow-up, as needed.All participants will initially receive counselling and advice by the Motherisk NVP Counsellor about symptom management. This includes advice about dietary, non-medicinal and medical treatments as per the Motherisk NVP protocol.	Other: Lillipop Iced Soothies (Ginger flavour); Lillipops Iced Soothies are naturally flavoured freezies developed in the United Kingdom for women with morning sickness. They are available in 5 different flavours: grapefruit and tangerine, lemon and mint, chamomile and orange, lime and vanilla, and ginger.The flavours are derived from steam distillation of the peels (grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, orange, lime), mint leaves, and chamomile flowers to release and collect their essential oils. Vanilla pods and ginger are macerated and their resin is used. These flavours were chosen because they may provide relief of symptoms as they are either traditional remedies for NVP, such as ginger, or soothing and refreshing flavours, such as chamomile, vanilla and citrus.
Active Comparator: Mr. Freeze Freezies (4 flavours); Initially, women will be given 1 multiflavour box of Mr. Freeze samples. Each box contains 24 freezies (20 mL each), 6 of each flavor. They will be told to eat the freezies as needed to alleviate symptoms, up to a maximum of 12 per day, and to not have any other popsicles, freezies or any ginger products throughout the duration of the study (7 days). They can request an additional multiflavour box of freezies at each follow-up, as needed. All participants will initially receive counselling and advice by the Motherisk NVP Counsellor about symptom management. This includes advice about dietary, non-medicinal and medical treatments as per the Motherisk NVP protocol	Other: Mr. Freeze Freezies; There are other commercially available freezies, such as Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze freezies contain simulated flavours of watermelon, cherry, blue raspberry and cream soda. However, there have been no reports, studies or claims that they are effective as a remedy for the treatment of NVP.
No Intervention: Natural Course Group; Women will not receive any freezies and will be asked to not have any other popsicles, freezies or any ginger products throughout the duration of the study (7 days). All participants will initially receive counselling and advice by the Motherisk NVP Counsellor about symptom management. This includes advice about dietary, non-medicinal and medical treatments as per the Motherisk NVP protocol

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Improvement of Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy (NVP)	To assess the effectiveness of Lillipops in the improvement of NVP symptoms. The primary endpoint of interest is the severity of NVP as compared between the 4 groups, defined according to the PUQE-24 (pregnancy-unique quantification of emesis and nausea) scoring system for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy that was developed and validated by Motherisk.	Baseline, +1, +3, +5, +7 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Concurrent Symptoms	To assess if there are any changes to concurrent symptoms that may intensify NVP, such as metallic taste or gastrointestinal issues (e.g. heartburn, acid reflux, indigestion and gas). The secondary endpoint of interest is the effect of the 4 groups on the status of concurrent symptoms that may intensify NVP, such as metallic taste or gastroesophageal reflux disease, as well as preference for freezie flavours, according to the PUQE-24 (pregnancy-unique quantification of emesis and nausea) scoring system for nausea and vomiting of pregnancy that was developed and validated by Motherisk.	Baseline, +1, +3, +5, +7 days
Freezie Flavour Preference	To assess preference for freezie flavours.	Baseline, +1, +3, +5, +7 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: The Hospital for Sick Children
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Shinya Ito, MD, The Hospital For Sick Children

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 16, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 16, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): August 20, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 10, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 6, 2020
• Last Verified: January 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Pregnancy; Obstetrics; Morning Sickness; Lillipops Iced Soothies
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Pregnancy Complications; Vomiting; Morning Sickness
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1000031589

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No