Cash handout for expectant mothers?
From April 2009, expectant mothers in England could receive a one-off payment from their 29th week of pregnancy onwards in order to encourage them to eat well. This was the announcement made by the Health Secretary Alan Johnson under the banner "Health in Pregnancy Grant". The move was welcomed by Charities but concerns were expressed about its efficiency.
Currently there is no measure to ensure the cash will be spent on healthy food and it has been stated that babies need to be assured of good nutrition far before 29 weeks.
The idea was raised after it was revealed that while infant mortality rates have done down, this has been seen much more among affluent sectors of society than poorer socio-economic groups. This means that the health gap is widening. The government has stated that it wants to see a 10% reduction in this gap from the baseline year of 1998.
Poor nutrition
Women on a poor diet during pregnancy are more likely to have low birth weight babies but experts realise that poverty and nutrition play a key role in pregnancy health, and it can be difficult to eat healthily when on the breadline. A low birth weight can mean that a baby is at greater risk of poor health during childhood and during their adult life. Currently, mothers-to-be on low incomes can apply for a £500 grant from 29 weeks of pregnancy to help towards the cost of having a new baby and it is intended that the Health in Pregnancy Grant would not be means-tested.
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However, to received the payment a woman would have to meet with a health professional for tips on pregnancy health and welfare advice. A spokeswoman for the premature baby charity BLISS has said that: "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."
A Royal College of Midwives spokesman said: "We are seeing a real and worrying widening of the health inequality gap so any move to improve the health and wellbeing of pregnant women and their unborn child is a positive step. However, to really tackle health inequality we need a real, long term and committed focus on public health with a significant increase in resources. Improving the health of women and children is the work of decades, and let us hope this is a step towards this."
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