General Chat

Just found this, it's a grant for new mums to be of £190.

http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/money4mum2be/

From April 2009, you can claim a one-off, tax-free payment from H M Revenue & Customs (HMRC) if you're a mum-to-be who's at least 25 weeks pregnant. The payment is called 'Health in Pregnancy Grant' and is to help you prepare for the birth of your baby.

Your due date needs to be on or after 6 April 2009 for you to make a claim.

Who can get Health in Pregnancy Grant?

You can get the grant if all of the following apply:

you are 25 weeks pregnant or more
your expected date of delivery is on or after 6 April 2009
you have been given health advice from a midwife or doctor
you may not get the grant if:

you are subject to immigration control or
you are not present, ordinarily resident or have a right to reside in the UK
How much do you get?

The grant will be a one-off payment of £190 for each pregnancy. It will not affect your tax credits or any other benefits. Everyone will get the same amount – you will not be asked about your income.

How do you claim?

Get a claim form from your midwife or doctor any time from 1 January 2009 onwards - as long as you're at least 25 weeks pregnant and your expected delivery date is on or after 6 April 2009. Your midwife or doctor must fill in their part of the form and sign it before giving it to you.

You will need to get your claim form to HMRC within 31 days of your midwife or doctor signing the form - otherwise you may miss out on the grant.

I see nothing wrong with the odd pint of Shandy.

There may be sugar in lemonade but there's also sugar in coke and other pop, even fruit juice are women supposed to give up them and sweets and chocolate and even fruit which also contains sugar???

Well the sugar free drinks often contain sweeteners and aspartamane (sp) which is (according to some) not good for you.

Jill

Haven't done it, wouldn't do it, don't agree with it xx

what are your views Fee

i think its wrong . that ok with you hoff ?

You keep asking for my views without leaving one of your own . so what is it then ?

Fee xx

Hi Fee !!!

So sorry we didn't get the chance to meet this weekend.

Maybe next time eh? xx

yeah gutted muffy was so looking forward to meeting you and mcanne .

at least daves onthe mend and there will be a new date soon !

Fee xx

*fingers crossed*

we'll all be able to make the next one Fee.

Definately would love to link up in a bar somewhere beforehand if we can lol xx

Hi Fee:-))
It really depends on how much shes drinking.
some people stop for the entire pregnancy which is probably the best plan.

I wonder how we ever had healthy babies 40/45 years ago?

There were no government warnings about anything then. I smoked the entire 9 months of both pregnancies. No-one warned me that it was bad for baby (:

Luckily both my daughters were fine healthy children.

I have never liked alcohol but if I had I would have continued to drink. There was no-one to tell us the harm it might do.

I honestly don't think the odd drink or two would harm baby and I really think this is nobody's business but the mother-to-be.

Jean.

What about smoking? Both equally harmful during pregnancy, I'd say.

Every new life should be given the best start possible.

I agree with you Jean to a point.

It's kind of like using inappropriate words nowadays......once upon a time no one batted an eyelid but now they do.....because times have moved on and society feels differently about them.

I KNEW that drinking and smoking were damaging to unborn children .....so I stopped.......no way would I have done if I hadn't known ......but I did. So there was no excuse for me to continue.

My mum smoked her way through both her pregnancies....never giving the ill effects any thought as it wasn't the done thing then...... and had two tiny babies.........and so did my sister.(who did know)....... sister also drank alcohol.......not to huge excess but over the suggested amount.

I didn't do either and had two bigger babies......

Though....my niece has hardly had a days illness in her life....... I have to say.....but.........if it's a 50/50 decision I'd prefer to err on the side of extreme caution where a precious life is concerned.

But that's just me

My MIL said she used to have a ciggie whilst breast feeding ......I nearly fainted........goes to show how times have changed lololol xx

I abstained with the first three babies, had the odd glass of cider or wine after 16 weeks with the last two. I agree that excessive consumption is very bad for the baby and a no, no.

Whilst breast feeding them all i was encouraged to drink a can of guiness for its benetits with iron levels.

Caz x

"I honestly don't think the odd drink or two would harm baby and I really think this is nobody's business but the mother-to-be". (part of Jean Durant's earlier posting.)

Does everyone agree with her on this point? I just feel that it is also the business of the foetus in the womb - or, is this another topic?

Posted byLast ReplyAlert
DermotToday at 20:38Request review
"I honestly don't think the odd drink or two would harm baby and I really think this is nobody's business but the mother-to-be". (part of Jean Durant's earlier posting.)

Does everyone agree with her on this point? I just feel that it is also the business of the foetus in the womb - or, is this another topic?

What do you mean as in "also the business of the foetus in the womb"??

My eldest daughter is 29 this year.
Before I was pregnant, I weighed under 7 stone (I'm 5'3) - not through health reasons, I was extremely fit, ate like a horse, but I had always been small.
When I got pregnant, I was unmarried, (though had been with the father for 6 years - so it was hardly a 'one night stand' LOL) the doctor offered me an abortion - I refused. He then suggested I drink a bottle (just under a pint) of Mackesons a night to 'build me up' - which I did.
I was also an agricultural labourer, apart from walking for miles in a day, leaning down cutting cabbages, I was also (for the first 4 months of pregnancy) lifting half hundred weights of potatoes.
I also suffered very badly from morning sickness and the doctor gave me Debendox.
Oh, and I rode a bike until a week before the baby was born, ate soft cheese, peanuts, cream, unpasteurised milk, my own (unchecked) duck eggs, my own ducks etc etc.
According to the 'experts' of today, my child should have been underweight, suffering from alcoholism, have a lowered intelligence, be asthmatic, have vast allergies and lucky to be alive!!
What were the truly most dangerous things for my baby? Not the stout, not the food, not riding the bike, not the lifting of heavy weights - the most dangerous things to her health were the abortion and the Debendox!
In my 4th month of pregnancy there was a front page spread stating that Debendox was related to Thalidomide! It could cause at the least for the baby's fingers and toes to be foreshortened. What did the doctor say? 'Do you want an abortion!!'

As it turned out she wasn't particularly small at 6lb 4oz, (bearing in mind my frame) has been perfectly healthy, has normal fingers and toes, has no allergies (and was give unpasteurised milk from the age of 2 - when she stopped breastfeeding).
Both she and her younger sister survived sleeping in bed with their (sober)parents. She has gone on to have 2 healthy children herself.
Her younger sister didn't have the benefit of stout (or Debendox!) or he mother hauling vast weights about - but I ate the same and still cycled (with elder child either on my back or in a seat) I drank 2 small glasses of Baileys a night with her!
She's a BSc.

'Experts' are always coming out with 'theories' on what's best - after all they need to justify their existence and get their research funding - so any cock and bull claptrap will do if it keeps the dosh rolling in!!
As in all things - moderation is best!

Personally I think the choice is with the individual mother Dermot. I had the odd glass during my pregancy and the odd cigarette - but in those days (30 years ago) even doctors smoked and it was only just becoming a worry for pregnant women.

And my son is fine.

My view is that the unborn child does not have a choice as such - how can it? It puts up with whatever the mother decides. In most cases that's fine and in some cases it's not but hey, that's it. Most women carrying a child tend to take care of themselves and the foetus don't they? But giving the foetus a choice? Can't see that working.

Jill

We all know there are people who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day since they were 15, lived to the age of 92 and died when they were run down by a bus.

Now, is this a good reason to advocate that children start smoking at 15?
Is it a good reason not to discourage children from smoking?

I would hardly think so.

What point is there in telling all the tales of "I drank / smoked / went skydiving all the time I was pregnant and my baby was perfect"? -- when WE KNOW that doing those things increases the risk of damage to a fetus?

Is someone telling these tales really advocating that pregnant women drink / smoke / go skydiving?

I will fight to the death for the *right* of a pregnant woman, and anyone else, to do what they want with their own body.

But the fact that it is a person's right (or "choice") to do something does not mean that I advocate doing it, or that it is a good thing to do.

Drinking while pregnant -- even the odd drink with dinner -- is playing Russian roulette with the fetus's health, and eventually the child's and adult's heatlh.

Many children run across busy roads and are none the worse for it. I'm not going to advocate that people allow their children to play in traffic -- and when I had a neighbour who did just that, I bawled her out regularly.

A fetus is not a child, and a pregnant woman is not a mother. But what a pregnant woman does will affect what a child eventually is.

Some women simply do not understand the risk. The risk is there with any single drink a pregnant woman has. No, maggie winchester and others -- "moderation" simply has nothing to do with it. Some people actually are experts. Others talk out their bums, unfortunately, and the really unfortunate thing would be if someone else were influenced by what they say.

It isn't really wise for servers in restaurants to lecture pregnant women about drinking, but friends and family are justifiably concerned and are surely justified in raising the issue, and even pressing it, just as they would if a friend or family member were doing anything else dangerous to themselves or others.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_syndrome#Prevention

"The only certain way to prevent FAS is to simply avoid drinking alcohol during pregnancy. A number of studies have shown that light to moderate drinking during pregnancy might not pose a risk to the fetus, although no amount of alcohol during pregnancy can be guaranteed to be absolutely safe."

Thankyou Janey I agree entirely
The reason there is conflicting advice is early testing revolved around initial fetal outcome,ie miscarriage low birthweight and fetal abnormality .
what is more modern is the follow up of the neurological effects that can range from subtle to extreme.
however its dressed up alcohol is the leading cause of preventable braindamage in children and it is 100% preventable by complete abstinance
The fetal alcohol disorders societies homepage has lots of info
www.faslink.org/
These guys are on the coalface and they are an excellent source of reliable information