TV and stage actor, Simon Shepherd, recently met with MIDIRS, to thank them for pledging support to Tearfund’s ‘Work a Miracle’ appeal, which aims to raise £60 million for HIV and AIDS-related work by 2015.

Continuing with one of the central themes of this issue, healthy eating, provides me with an opportunity to showcase an Informed Choice title that you may have felt tempted to overlook – Diet and nutrition during pregnancy.

Health in pregnancy cannot be isolated from health in general(1). The health promotion advice and support that is routinely offered to women pre-conceptually and during pregnancy can be viewed as a window of opportunity for health behaviour lifestyle changes. A woman’s concerns for the health and wellbeing of her developing baby and future family is frequently expressed and observed by her health care professionals and, in the main, most pregnant women tend to be more receptive to health education messages.

Sara became interested in women's health issues at an early age, and trained as a direct-entry midwife when this kind of education became a reality again. She has practised midwifery in the UK and USA, in home birth, birth centre and hospital settings.

(Derbyshire E, Davies J, Costarelli V, Dettmar P, Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics; 19(4): 267-73.)