So we have all heard that being pregnant can make you crave funny things, sometimes we may even use this as an excuse to eat things we want but I have heard about and had some seriously weird ones myself.

With Poppy I craved raw potatoes, now I’m not talking about fancying a little bit oh no! I was eating one to two potatoes a day. I liked to chop them up into strips and keep them in a bowl of water in the fridge so they were ready to eat.

I had  a preference for certain ones too. The dirty ones with a kind of muddy taste…although I washed them well of course.

With Rosie I craved raw carrots. At one point I was eating approximately 1kg of carrots a day and I actually went orange. Not just a little bit either. It started with my hands and finger nails and soon I was pretty much orange all over.

I was told it was dangerous for my baby and could cause serious problems so was forced to give them up. It was difficult but I found radishes helped. Yes radishes! Again I was eating a bag a day.

With this one I had no cravings for about the first 14 weeks. I was eating really well and had no sickness. A little later on in the pregnancy I started fancying raw potatoes again. Honestly its so weird as definitely not the sort of thing I would usually eat.

I have looked it up on the Internet and it says it can be related to iron deficiency. However, I have recently had my bloods checked and this is the first pregnancy I have not suffered from anaemia.  So i’m not sure what the problem is.

I have tweeted about my weird cravings and found even weirder ones. @danielleGparker told me in a previous pregnancy she had craved Dove soap. Yes she actually ate soap and again was told it could be related to iron deficiency.

A common theme seems to be ice, whether ice cubes or ice pops it seems to help particularly with sickness. It is also another thing I have been eating a lot of.

So why do we have cravings?

Much research has been done into understanding the cravings women experience in pregnancy so Liz the expert midwife at Hipp Organic has this information for mums to be. Cravings may happen at any time during pregnancy and as usual the rapid hormonal changes going on in a woman’s body are used to explain why this happens, another reason for cravings is that it is a way of directing a woman to nutrients she is lacking. There’s no scientific evidence to back these theories so although we know cravings happen there has yet to be a proper explanation.

Cravings can strike at any time and indeed may be one of the earliest signs of pregnancy for some women. There is no rationale for the types of cravings women have and the actual cravings vary wildly from sour and spicy foods as well as red meats, carbohydrates and chocolates, orange ice lollies!

Whatever the manifestation try and maintain a balanced diet, a pregnant woman only needs an extra 200 calories a day but not until the 3rd trimester.

Always discuss with your midwife or doctor if you are in any way concerned about the cravings you are having.

What did you crave in your pregnancy or did you not crave anything at all? I would love to know.

Karen x