‘I couldn’t stop eating clay while pregnant, spent £3k on it and continue to eat it today’

A woman who craved eating clay while pregnant has spent over £3,000 on her habit - and continues to eat the chalky substance today.

Dymund Dina, 31, started craving mabele, a type of clay commonly eaten in parts of Africa, during her first pregnancy with her first son in June 2013.

Her hankering began after sniffing and smelling washing powder and then quickly turned to consuming the edible clay.

The mum of five buys the clay from shops in her local area that import it from Congo, Central Africa.

When stocks ran low, she would send her partner Jay King, 38, a medical supplies delivery driver, to locate her craving from other independent stores, sometimes over an hour drive away.

In her first pregnancy, Dymund predicts she spent around £800 on her obsession.

She describes her cravings as an “addiction” and has said she can’t settle until she’s satisfied her craving.

Dymund has gone on to have three more pregnancies and four more children - twins, Kai and Kylee, seven, Keziah, five and Kiana, one. The mum-of-five craved clay constantly throughout each of her pregnancies and continues to consume it now - despite no longer being pregnant.

Dymund, a social media content creator, from Orpington, southeast London, said: “Mabele has a really distinctive smell, and when I was pregnant I was obsessed with it.

“It smells like fresh rain in summer - that’s the only way I can describe it. Then I started eating it and couldn’t stop. When I was pregnant I’d get through ten bags a day, it was such a strong craving. Each bag is roughly two grams. I still can’t get enough and eat clay every day, and I’m not even pregnant anymore.”

During her first pregnancy, Dymund found that eating mabele and ice helped alleviate her morning sickness, and she’d chew on the edible clay any chance she’d get.

Dymund said: “My mum Odette, 58, also ate mabele when she was pregnant, so I’ve always known about it. The cravings really kicked in around the 12-week mark of my first pregnancy. Up until that point, I’d been too sick to eat anything. But as I went into my second trimester, I found that eating the clay really helped with the nausea.”

Dymund purchased the clay so often that her local stores would frequently run out of stock - leaving partner Jay to travel up to an hour in the car to find a shop that would sell more.

Dymund was once so desperate to get her chalky fix that she asked her cousin Naomi Mpia, 29, who lives in France to send some over to her.

“Sometimes Jay would have to travel over an hour to find some for me,’’ she said. “He absolutely hates the smell and doesn’t understand why I love it so much. It got so bad that one time when I ran out and couldn’t find any more, I had to ask my cousin in France to send me some.”

The content creator predicts she has spent roughly £800 on clay during each pregnancy and has spent over £3000 in total over ten years on the bizarre craving.

“I’m obsessed with the taste and texture, I just can’t get enough of it,” Dymund said. “I only like salty tasting mabele. If I buy some that’s not salty, I have to go out and find more. “Even talking about it makes my mouth water.”