BLISS: Payment will come too late for some

Government plans to give pregnant women a one-off financial incentive during their third trimester to encourage healthy eating may prove ineffectual a specialist charity has warned today.

The government health initiative - which will be formally announced later this week - intends to encourage expectant mothers to buy more fruit and vegetables by giving them a £200 one-off payment during their 29th week of pregnancy.

The government hopes this will reduce the rate of premature births.

But the premature baby charity Bliss has warned such a plan would fail to effectively tackle the problem.

Amy Edmunds of Bliss argued giving the payment at 29 weeks would fail to reach the 12 per cent of premature babies that are on average born prior to that stage of pregnancy every year.

She explained: "Babies most in need of support are those born before 29 weeks gestation.

"Around 12 per cent of premature deliveries last year happened at 29 weeks or earlier, which suggests that many women could miss out on the new grant."

Ms Edmunds stressed poor diet was only one factor contributing to premature birth, with environmental circumstances and medical complications also playing a part.

"We recommend that the government addresses the fact that the service that cares for these vulnerable newborns is chronically under-resourced," she concluded.