A one-off payment of £200 will be given to pregnant women to enable them to buy healthy food.By Spring 2009, pregnant women will be entitled to a lump sum of £200. Unfortunately, the money won't be available to them until after their 29th week. A leading obstetrician has said that the healthy food hand-out should be available in the early stages of pregnancy at the most crucial stage in a baby's development. Critics are also saying that because nobody will be monitoring how the money is spent, it could mean that it is squandered by the very people it's aimed to help.
'This proposal sounds good in principle - nutrition in pregnancy is very important," a spokesperson for the National Childbirth Trust said. 'However, the logistics of the scheme need to concentrate on ensuring that the funding directly benefits women and their babies nutritionally.'
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