Team DailyPedia
I know pregnancy cravings can sometimes be weird. Some hunger for pandesal with ketchup, others in fruits that are not in season..but this soon-to-be mom craves for something very odd and dangerous.
Meet Silvia. She is suffering from “pica”, an eating disorder characterized by an appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive, such as paper, clay, metal, chalk, soil, glass or sand.
The star of the series “My Extraordinary Pregnancy” was documented picking up small rocks outside her house. She explained that she feels upset and guilty, “I feel ashamed but I have to do it.”
According to the New York woman, when she see rocks of any kind, her mouth waters “literally. It’s like when you see something you really, really want to eat.” So she try not to look down on rocks and not to pass by construction sites, ”Because my system goes haywire and I get so excited. I want to eat some, I want to eat some, you know.”
Silvia is also seen hiding her small rocks behind curtains, lamps, and even in the tea cup.
She furthermore added that if she could trade with someone that is craving sushi or pickles, she would do it, “I would love that, I would trade that any day.”
Silvia’s obstetrician, Dr. Robert Silverman said, “Pica is just eating any substance that is not food. It can be as simple as something like ice or it could be as complicated as eating nails. We’ve talked about the risk of taking in pebbles, there are all different kind of diseases that you can get, there are all different types of parasites. And the fact that they can fill up their stomach can cause an obstruction. Pica can be very dangerous.”
As to Silvia, she knows she needs to stop her weird eating habit because it will gravely affect the child inside her tummy. “I’ve tried just about everything they’ve told me to try, I’ve tried eating corn starch, I’ve tried eating different type of candies that got the same consistency, but nothing so far has helped.”
The mom-to-be also said she could go a whole day without eating but she knows it is unhealthy because her baby is not gaining weight and there’s no nutrition going in her body for her and the unborn child.
“I’ve had a lot of stomach pains from eating rocks which is kind of scary, I worry about mine and the baby’s health,” she said.
When her partner, Estevan, was asked about her condition, he said, “It’s frustrating because everything she consumes the baby consumes, so when she has pains it’s all because of this stuff that she’s eating. You can’t digest rocks.”
He also tried throwing away her weird “food” but it just make Silvia stressed and worried.
When she’s about to give birth, the surgeon said that they will check if the baby is healthy nutritionally and he doesn’t have iron deficiency because that would be the biggest risk.
Fortunately, a very healthy baby came out. “I’m so excited that he’s okay,” Silvia said.
