‘I scoffed three bottles of talcum powder a WEEK’: Mums reveal their bizarre pregnancy cravings – like paper towels
Pica is the craving of non-food items - and it's most common during pregnancy
NEARLY all pregnant women get food cravings - but Stacey Solomon's admission she's eating salads drenched in vinegar pales in comparison with this lot.
These three mums were all blighted by pica, an intense craving for non-food items like chalk, paper towels and soil. Speaking exclusively to Fabulous Digital, they tell their stories...
‘I scoffed three bottles of talcum powder a WEEK’
Kadejah Clarke, 24, from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, found an unusual use for all that baby powder...
Before I had my children, I had a friend with an iron deficiency who used to eat Johnson’s Baby Powder.
I thought she was nuts and couldn’t quite believe it when she managed to convince me to try some. I thought it was disgusting!
But years later, when I fell pregnant with my eldest daughter, Dae’Jha-Leigh, the memory of the powder popped into my head and suddenly it was all I wanted.
I bought a bottle of it and it was so refreshing as soon as the white stuff hit my tongue.
I can’t explain why I loved it so much but from that moment on, I was hooked.
After I gave birth to my daughter I thought my strange craving was over and it was – until I fell pregnant with my youngest daughter Naila-Monaé seven years later.
My impulse to eat the powder was even stronger than before and I started getting through three bottles a week. It tasted incredible.
I started getting through three bottles of talcum powder a week. It tasted incredible
Kadejah Clarke, 24, from Wolverhampton
I decided not to tell my 27-year-old partner, a credit controller, because I was scared of his reaction.
But one day he caught me in the act and went mad.
He was a bit worried for the baby, which I understood, so I swore I’d stop. But that didn’t last long.
I think I went two days without fuelling my addiction before I started sprinkling talcum powder in my mouth again.
When Alexander caught me for a second time, he took a snap of me on his phone and sent it to my mum, so she could grill me about it too.
Now Dae’Jha-Leigh is nearly seven and I’m on maternity leave from working as a customer service advisor at a call centre caring for Naila-Monaé, who is seven weeks old.
Luckily both of them turned out fine.
Looking back, it seems utterly crazy that I was eating talcum powder - but at the time is was an essential to get me through my pregnancies!
What is pica?
Pica is the term used to describe intense cravings for non-food items which have no nutritional value.
No-one really knows what causes it - but it's most common during pregnancy.
It has been linked to iron deficiency, but this doesn't mean you have a deficiency if you have unusual cravings.
Although the women named here saw no adverse effects, pica can cause health problems like bowel blockage or lead poisoning if you are consuming the wrong items in large quantities.
Mums-to-be should avoid following these cravings if possible.
‘I had to sneak off in between clients so I could chew on paper towels in secret’
Nazma Iqbal, 38, from Derby, Derbyshire, couldn't let her customers know about her bizarre craving...
I stood in the shower and reached for the shampoo - but as I poured some into my hand, my stomach turned.
Just the smell of it made me feel sick. I washed my hair quickly and then sat on the edge of the bath tub, waiting for the nausea to pass.
I was just a few weeks pregnant with my fourth child and I continued to suffer with bad morning sickness.
Soon I started waking up in the middle of the night, grinding my teeth, desperate for the feeling of something to bite into.
I tried everything from crisps to biscuits, crackers to nuts, but nothing satisfied me.
I started getting very grumpy and frustrated and would cry for hours, all because I couldn’t stop grinding my teeth.
One afternoon, I was sitting with my daughter Amreen while she was doing her homework, using some chalk.
I don’t know what came over me, but I suddenly took a bite from one of the pieces of chalk - it was bliss.
It felt so soothing on my teeth and helped ease my nausea. My husband, Shahid Khan, 41, a professional cricket coach, looked at me like I had lost my mind.
But chalk wasn’t enough. I needed something better.
I went into the back garden and scratched the cement between the bricks on the wall and sucked my fingers like a hungry monster
Nazma Iqbal, 38, from Derby
Soon I turned to cooking flour, but then I realised my favourite craving of all – paper towels.
As I tore off a sheet of kitchen roll and tore it with my teeth, it was a feeling like no other.
The rough paper felt like heaven in my mouth and I chewed up the whole sheet until it turned soggy.
My three kids couldn't stop laughing as they watched me desperately fulfilling my craving.
In my job as a beautician and hairdresser, I had to sneak off in between clients so I could chew on paper towels in secret.
When I ran out of kitchen roll, I went into the back garden and scratched the cement between the bricks on the wall and sucked my fingers like a hungry monster.
I kept on chewing up paper towels until I finally went into labour.
Even then, in between contractions, I munched on the hospital’s scratchy paper towels until I finally gave birth to my son Azaan, now five.
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Eating paper towels definitely kept me sane during those nine months.
I often think back and wonder how I would have coped if I hadn’t given in my bizarre cravings.
It was one hell of a pregnancy, but it was worth it in the end.
Earlier this week, we spoke to the new mums who adore their post-pregnancy baby bumps and proudly show them off — just like Meghan Markle.