to think the Health in Pregnancy Grant is a gimmick which would be better used for a different cause?

[Weegle]

I am very grateful for the £190 which arrived in my account today... I am not disputing that - very handy...

However, I have only one week of pregnancy left - so it's hardly going to contribute towards my health IN pregnancy... despite applying for it at the earliest opportunity. It also, alone, is not going to turn me in to someone who eats more healthy food if I didn't already. I cannot honestly say it has in anyway contributed to my health in this pregnancy at all.

Would this grant not be better off means tested or used for actually supplying you with vouchers for healthy food, or being used in a different area of the economy altogether?

It seems like a gimmick to me and a waste of resources exactly when this government needs to be spending elsewhere. What about £190 for every pregnant woman going in to local midwifery services?

So - have I missed something - AIBU?

it is a gimmick, like the money parents get to invest for their child's future (£250 is not going to be worth very much in 18 years time).

A friend has just used her health in pregnancy grant to buy a Wii for her oldest. It's a lot of money not being well spent.

YANBU, I said this would happen when they were still talking about it, and I was right. The people who eat healthily already do so - you don't need money for that, you need cooking/shopping/budgeting skills. the people who don't eat healthily won't do so just because they got £190.

Yanbu.
It is madness that it is given to everyone.

YANBU. It is an an excellent idea but should be means tested and given as vouchers or refund for specified activities. Those who have money will probably do these things anyway and those who don't can't afford not to spend the extra cash on a pram or other essentials.

I agree it is stupid. When I had ds I used to get the healthy start vouchers and they were great as they could only be used for fresh fruit and veg, fresh milk or formula milk. The formula part is open to debate I guess but the rest is great.

ds is 14 months old did I miss out on this, this is the first I've heard of it....hhhmmm that would come in really handy now

can you back claim

Yeah if it was means tested you would only get it if you only had something ridiculously low coming in

Totally stupid. As you say, you can only get it at the end of pregnancy so doesn't really contribute to a healthy pregnancy and as it's a big chunk of money it can be spent on anything. Would much rather it were available as vouchers for fruit and veg, pregnancy multivitamins or similar. Total waste of money IMO. And I say this as someone who sent off the form yesterday...

YABU Heaven knows how women survived in good health and babies were born and flourished before this wonderful idea. This is another prime example of how marvellous the current Government is.

Who cares if this expense causes cancer patients to be denied drugs or elderly, ill people to lay on trollies in A&E for hours? Or if many will spend this money on a Playstation for their elder child or TV for themselves?

will probbaly be flamed down but valhalla you are being sarcastic, yes?

As someone who recently benfited from the grant (dd is 3 1/2 months) i have to say it didn;t change my eating habits and rather embarrsingly it paid my hairdressers bill and i treated myself to a manicure and pedicure. I guess you could argue that was looking after my mental health though.

I do think the money would be better spent elsewhere and should be 'got rid ' of. Its a fairly recent thing and not everyone knows about it.

Yes definitely recent - didn't have it in my first pregnancy, and didn't know it existed until this one.

The thing is pregnant women are going to take it up - £190 is not a piffling amount to people - we're pretty strapped for cash at the moment (twins on the way, so sort of pregnancy related) and so it's been very handy... however, it would be wrong to say that I have NEEDED for my health in this pregnancy.

It just seems so wrong when the average recipient doesn't NEED it for what it's billed for.

YANBU

It should be means tested.

£190 to eat vegetables is somewhat wasted on the wealthy (or even middling) middle classes.

YANBU. I just don't get why you get it sooo late on in pregnancy, what's the point in delaying? I'll be putting my money towards a Phil and Teds, probably not quite what the government had in mind.

YANBU, I think it would be better spent on more midwives.

MrsJamin - the student at my midwife appointment kept asking that; my midwife said it's because of the baby being 'viable' at that stage.

Was surprised to learn I qualify during mw booking in appt; I did think it was means tested.

Like Mrs Jamin, was wondering whether I could justify to dh the need for a new pram. Probably not.

But it's hardly what the money is intended for, and although we are going to find me being on mat leave hard going financially, we've never fallen into the bracket of qualify for extra help. It does seem an awful waste and the money better directed.

Nowtheres4, yes, I was being sarky. If I had my way I'd ban this and all similar grants, means test CB and then merrily put the Government against the wall and shoot them for making cancer sufferers go without whilst they hand out grants to all and sundry for sod good reason.

It really does make me very cross to hear that people are buying Wiis/going to the hairdresser as a result of these grants but sadly it comes as no surprise.

I'd heard about this and completely assumed it would be means tested or for people on income support or whatever - shocked to find out that it isn't.