The government is planning to give all pregnant women a £120 payment in the hope they spend it on fruit and vegetables as a means of protecting their infants from childhood diseases.
Alan Johnson, the health secretary, announced the hand-out in a speech last week aimed at highlighting the gap between rich and poor.
However, critics of the bonus, which will be paid to middle-class mothers as well as poorer families, are likely to say that the money may just be wasted because there is nothing to prevent pregnant women spending it on drink, cigarettes, chocolate or even clothes.
The “health in pregnancy” benefit will be made as a one-off payment when a woman is seven months pregnant, just two months before the birth; Doctors pointed out that babies are fully formed at 7 months , so the health effects will be marginal!
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