A MOTHER has come clean about how she developed an unlikely obsession with bleach during her pregnancy.
Natalie Cruz, 21, came down with an unusual medical condition that made her crave the chemical cleaner's smell, taste, and feel — though fortunately for her and her baby, she never actually ate any.
Natalie, from Atlanta, Georgia, was six months pregnant when she "got lost on the cleaning side of TikTok."
Searching the hashtag #CleanTok, she came across deep-cleaning videos and hacks and noticed that she loved the sound of powdered bleach being shaken.
"I kept finding the sound of powdered bleach so satisfying," she said.
"It was a sound that wouldn't leave me alone — I could even hear it in my dreams.
"So I went to Target, bought three cans of powdered bleach, and instantly just wanted to feel it and smell it.
"I consulted my doctor beforehand, who said as long as I'm not ingesting the bleach — and only smelling it once or twice — it wouldn't affect my health or my baby's."
Despite wanting to touch, sniff and taste bleach, Natalie wasn't alarmed by her unconventional cravings.
It wasn't long until she found out they had a name.
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The insurance specialist was diagnosed with pica, an eating disorder in which a person eats things that aren't food — even though she didn't actually eat the bleach.
"It sounds bad, but I first discovered pica on TikTok," she said.
"I was watching pregnant women experiencing 'weird' food cravings, and my doctor said it was probably what I was going through."
According to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic Manual (DSM-5), the disorder typically involves "eating non-nutritive, non-food substances over a period of at least one month."
But Natalie wants people to understand that just because she didn't actually eat any bleach doesn't mean she isn't suffering from pica.
"My doctor explained to me that I do have pica, despite not actually eating any inedible objects.
"Obviously I'm not going to eat bleach, but I still craved it."
She added that she followed her doctor's orders and only smelled and touched the bleach a couple of times.
But she loved the #CleanTok videos so much that she even watched them during labor to help her relax.
"I wasn't worried it would harm myself or the baby because I didn't ever eat any," she noted.
She posted on TikTok about her cravings and went viral.
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"People always have something negative to say in the TikTok comments — they're all about invalidating and discrediting women and our medical histories," she said.
The cravings disappeared when Ayaan was born in June.
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