AT 2am in the night, Peter was woken up by his 4-month pregnant wife. Well, it was not an emergency. The wife wanted to chew some sugarcane. That wouldn’t have been a problem but there was no sugarcane in the house and he had never seen his wife eat sugarcane in their 2-year marriage. Many men are familiar with such stories when pregnancy drives their spouses to crave weird things at weird hours. There is something about pregnancy cravings. It can make one munch on something as strange as clay.

Craving is as an intense desire for something really particular.

According to www.parents.com, sometimes cravings are hormone-related. Just like women have cravings at various stages of their menstrual cycle due to hormonal changes; the same thing happens during pregnancy.

Some theories hold that it is also about the body needs. A craving for milk might mean you need calcium; a craving for fruit may signal a need for vitamin C. In fact, fruit, milk, and milk products (as well as chocolate and salty snacks) are the most common pregnancy cravings, the website says.

Food cravings during the early stages of pregnancy are common. There are abnormal cravings like eating chalk, clay, even mud, plaster and others; these cravings could occur due to deficiency of calcium or iron in the body, Dr Rachna Pande, a specialist in internal medicine at Ruhengeri Hospital, says.

Liza Umutesi a mother of two says she experienced serious cravings during her first and second pregnancy. One of the things she craved was soil.

"I had a container in my bedroom where I kept the soil which I always mixed with some water to produce a very ‘pleasant’ scent to me,” she admits.

Asked about why pregnant women crave for some things, Marina Uwase, a mother of two sons and a daughter, says the cause of cravings is hard to explain.

"If it’s ice cream, you feel like having it every single minute. Men sometimes think that we are taking advantage of being pregnant but it’s not us, you just find yourself craving for a particular thing.

"I used to crave for ice cream when I was pregnant, and for my last child it was weird; I craved for my husband’s presence that leaving home for work became a problem for him. I had to deal with that throughout the day. My only joy was having him around me,” Uwase says.

Men also affected

Men on the other hand are affected by what their women go through when pregnant. They have to endure the mood swings since women become too emotional when they are expecting.

Joseph Arinaitwe says his pregnant wife bickers a lot.

"She doesn’t want to see me; her emotions always stir up whenever she sees me. She always finds fault in what I do and that is hard on me and our marriage as well, I plan to see a marriage counselor,” Arinaitwe says.

Dennis Kamugisha says his wife is in her early months of pregnancy and she is in love with food fit for a toddler. She can’t go to sleep without eating mashed Irish potatoes.

"I don’t know what gets into women when they get pregnant, she will eat a spoonful of salt when it’s time to crave salt and sometimes I get worried but just hope for the phase to fade away, he says.

What causes cravings?

According to Dr. Pande, there are several reasons that explain the cause of cravings such as hormonal changes, greater release of neuropeptides from hypothalamus and demand for the nutrients by the body. The cravings can be for foods which one didn’t have a chance to relish before; cravings are mostly based on culture and the availability of food items.

Dr Osee Sebatunzi, a gynecologist at Kibagabaga Hospital, says that women who crave a lot sometimes have blood deficiency. He says when a woman is pregnant, sometimes the appetite level drops, especially for the first months.When the appetite reduces, the woman doesn’t have sufficient hemoglobin resulting into search for something to compensate what she is missing in the body.

How to deal with the cravings

"When a woman craves for something she should try and get it, though sometimes the cravings disappear. If she can’t get what she craves for, she should find something to divert her mind to avoid anxiety, which could be harmful to her health and that of the baby,” Dr Sebatunzi says.

Dr Pande says it’s not advisable to give in to food cravings every time. A woman may give in to the strong desire and just taste something, but if it is not healthy like alcohol, clay or some other thing, it is best to avoid it.

When men crave

Husbands are known to have not only food cravings when their partner is pregnant, but also get other symptoms like early fatigue, morning sickness and others. And according to surveys done in the UK and Sweden, there is a 50 to 70 percent range in men who crave. Why it happens is not known exactly but there are different theories; love for a partner and forthcoming child, feeling marginalised during the period of pregnancy and delivery of the partner, Dr Pande says.

Justus Katalemwa swears that part of his wife’s first and second trimesters were characterised by the urge he had for meat.

He says, "I eat meat, but during that time, I seemed to want nothing else to eat but that. Every time I came home and the maid had prepared something else, I frowned and even went as far as eating out just so I could enjoy eat some meat. I even spoke to my wife about it and she just laughed because she seemed fine.”

Are the cravings a threat to one’s health?

There is no direct threat from the food cravings per se, for the mother or the baby. But if the craving is for something obviously harmful like alcohol it can hurt both. Spices and pepper are fine if the mother is able to digest them. But if one has nausea, abdominal bloating and or burning pain in chest and abdomen, it should be avoided or taken in very small quantities,” says Dr Pande.

She adds: "Craving for inedible objects can be harmful, like eating mud carries a risk of introducing infectious microbes in the gut. Mud, not being an edible item is not compatible with human gut physiology; hence it will cause dyspeptic symptoms. Some women crave for smoking which is harmful for both the mother as well as the baby.

"Craving for and consuming fatty food constantly increase the weight and cause obesity related problems, like increase in blood pressure and sugar. Similarly, a woman who develops diabetes and or high blood pressure during gestation has to be careful about her diet and not give in to food cravings which can impair the control of blood pressure or sugar.”

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I say: What were your cravings during pregnancy?

Nema Kaitesi

When I was pregnant I developed a craving for beans, greens and hot milk. I had to have them at every meal, sometimes with nothing else. This appetite for beans and greens went on throughout my pregnancy period.

Clementine Mukanga

When I was pregnant I craved pineapple juice and cassava, they were the only things I had an appetite for. It was unusual how I never got fed up of them. However, a few months to labour, I longed for Ikivuguto (homemade yogurt).

Claudine Namubonye

During my pregnancy I craved for salty meals with a lot of onions. Onions became like an appetizer, there is no food I would eat without plenty of onions. I also craved for my husband’s affection; I wanted him close so he could follow every request.

Clementine Mutuyimana

A few months after I conceived, I developed a craving for cassava leaves. Eating the leaves gave me a sense of comfort, yet it’s not something I used to enjoy before pregnancy.

Esther Uwimana

The only thing I enjoyed was soda; I craved soda, especially orange flavoured. I would drink soda about four times a day. I also found myself craving for attention from people around me, especially my husband.

Beyata Uwamahoro

It was so weird how my appetite increased during pregnancy. I was comfortable with anything; I wasn’t selective at all and enjoyed several types of food but still had a preference for sweet things and junk food. On the other hand, I was moody all the time.

Izela Barlow

My eating habits were strange. I could not have any cooked food save for an occasional doughnut and some nuts and simsim. I always craved for pawpaws and ice cold water. I guess that makes sense considering that I could only eat raw fruit and vegetables. I would occasionally crave ice cold milk in the night and most times I got tired of it after three sips. I guess my body was too confused when it came to food.

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