What??? One mum's pregnancy craving was a piece of FURNITURE!
YOU thought your pregnancy craving for pickles and chocolate was a bit weird? Well you have nothing on 28-year old mum Vicky Cullen, who developed a taste for her ARMCHAIR when pregnant with her daughter Olivia, now five.
Vicky developed the craving mid-way through her pregnancy, she told presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on breakfast show This Morning, when she absently began picking at the sponge on her armchair. And according to the mum, it satisfied her like no other ‘food’, filling a craving within her.
“I was sitting watching TV one night and was picking a hole the sofa – before I knew it I was chewing on a piece of foam I'd pulled from the main cushion – chewing it like chewing gum and enjoying the sensation before swallowing,” the Daily Mail reported her saying.
“It satisfied the craving I'd been feeling all day. As any pregnant woman knows, when you satisfy that craving even for the weirdest food combination it feels amazing but as it turns out mine were even more extreme than most.”
Vicky has since been diagnosed with pica, the disorder where people feel the urge to eat non-nutritive substances such as chalk, ice, clay and of course, armchair.
“When I read the word pica I felt a sigh of relief. I read up avidly about women who ate pebbles or stones or chalk and felt this would remain a phase. I wasn't experiencing any discomfort. I didn't get any tummy pains or constipation and I found it relaxing,” she added.
And astonishingly, five years later, sponge is still very much a part of her diet! According to Vicky, not one day goes by without her eating sponge – either alone, cut into pieces with toppings, or added into her meals.
“I went for four days without eating my chair and gave in, binging on a plate of pieces covered in a selection of toppings washed down with hot chocolate,” the Daily Mail reported her saying.
“I have cooked with foam as well, putting it into a casserole or a sausage and sauce mix – a bit like dumplings. It’s only for me and I don't expect anyone to understand my craving and I’d never serve them the food.”
Despite Vicky’s unorthodox snack, doctors say she has experienced no deficiencies or ill-effects, aside from bouts of constipation. Vicky is now undergoing cognitive-behavioural therapy to rid herself of her addiction.
For more information on pregnancy cravings and pica, click HERE.