Pregnancy cravings; some women don’t get them, and some women experience seriously wild cravings!

If you’re pregnant and unsure if you’re alone in what you’re craving, this could be the read you need. It’s important to know that you’re certainly not alone and that cravings are a perfectly normal part of pregnancy… No matter how weird and wonderful!

We’ve had a chat with the parents over on our online community for some insight, and we were inundated with some fantastic input – we hope that it helps to reassure you.

Food Cravings & What They Can Indicate

Pregnancy cravings are incredibly common, and they vary from woman to woman. They can start as early as 4 weeks, but some women find theirs kick in later in pregnancy. Your pregnancy cravings aren’t an indication of what gender your baby is, sorry mummies & daddies – this is an old wives tale!

Pregnancy cravings can tell us some important things about our health, though. There are many theories, the most common thought is that certain cravings can be our bodies way of telling us we’re deficient but there’s no evidence of this. It’s safest to put it down to hormones – our hormones fluctuate wildly when we’re pregnant which is bound to affect our senses of taste and smell!

Food cravings can come in all sorts of bizarre forms – some of the mummies in our community shared theirs with us…

Ready salted crisps dipped in jam
Prawn cocktail crisps in oxtail soup
Pickled onions dipped in melted chocolate
Chocolate donuts dipped in mac and cheese with hot sauce
Cheese, banana and gherkins together

Mmmm… Sounds delicious! Or not?

Unusual Non-Food Cravings

Cravings aren’t limited to the strong desire to eat certain foods! Some mummies experience a desire to eat or smell non-food items… This is where things get weird!

Some of the craziest cravings the mummies in our group reported were;

The smell of car wash cleaner
Any bubbly cleaning liquid
Washing powder
The smell of clean washing
Tesco bedtime bath soap
The smell of lemon bleach
Lemon antibacterial wipes
Sponges
Cardboard
Dry wall plaster
The smell of gas
The smell of new carpet
The smell of petrol

Why am I Having Non-Food Cravings & What Should I Do?

First of all, and I’m sure that this is common sense but it’s always worth stating, don’t ever ingest something that isn’t made for human consumption! If you’re experiencing this, you must speak to your midwife or GP.

Non-food cravings are known as a condition called pica. There can be a number of causes; during pregnancy, it’s most commonly put down to anaemia and mineral deficiencies. This can be treated with supplements.