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A new government initiative has decided that from April 2009 every pregnant woman will get a one-off £200 paid to their bank account in their 29th week of pregnancy to spend on healthy food and encourage them to eat well. Named the “Health in Pregnancy Grant”, the new plans will be announced by Health Secretary Alan Johnson later next week;they are part of a bid to boost infant health and reduce infant mortality.

Experts have long agreed that a mother’s nutrition during pregnancy can have a strong impact on the health of her new-born child. Indeed, women who have a poor diet during pregnancy are more likely to have low birth weight babies, and this is said to put them at a disadvantage later in life. It is also clear from statistics that infant mortality is higher amongst poorer groups, and so it seems worthwhile for the government to try and narrow the healthcare gap. Any woman who wants to receive the grant must meet with a health professional beforehand to discuss tips for healthy eating routines.

Even though most mothers are understandably thrilled by the new incentive, some charities warn that the measure may not be very effective as it will be impossible to regulate where the money is going. As a spokeswoman for the National Childbirth Trust has said:

“This proposal sounds good in principle - nutrition in pregnancy is very important. However, the logistics of the scheme need to concentrate on ensuring that the funding directly benefits women and their babies nutritionally.”

Also, some believe that the measure has been concentrating on the wrong thing as it is the babies themselves who are more in need of the good nutrition during their early life and often, due to premature births, mothers will lose out on on the grant. As Amy Edmunds from the premature baby charity BLISS, says:

“Babies most in need of support are those born before 29 weeks’ gestation. Around 12% of premature deliveries last year happened at 29 weeks or earlier, which suggests that many women could miss out on the new grant. Poor diet is only one of many potential factors that contribute to premature birth and low birth weight. We recommend that the government addresses the fact that the service that cares for these vulnerable newborns is chronically under-resourced.”

There are still many factors to consider. However, it will come as good news to all expectant and future mothers to know that they will now get help with their diet during a time when it will be difficult to keep track of their diet and eat well.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 9th, 2007 at 7:51 pm and is filed under Lifestyle, Current Affairs, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.