Social Security Scotland is putting the spotlight on its Best Start Foods and Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment on World Health Day, 7 April 2025.
This year World Health Day is being marked through a campaign called, ‘Healthy beginnings and hopeful futures’, which aims to protect mums and babies from preventable deaths and promote women’s longer-term health and wellbeing.
Ensuring that pregnant women and those who have a young baby take up the benefits they are entitled to is vital. A range of resources are available to help stakeholders raise awareness about Best Start Foods and Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment.
Best Start Foods is a pre-paid card which aims to tackle the impact of child poverty by improving access to healthy foods and milk for eligible families on a low income. It can be used in supermarkets and convenience stores throughout the country.
The Scottish Government has a cash-first approach to ending the need for food banks in Scotland and improving access to healthy foods for low-income families.
Adequate nutrition and diet are cornerstones of how young children grow and develop. These payments help reduce the diet related health gap between people on low incomes and better off families.
Women can claim Best Start Foods as soon as they know they are pregnant and can continue to be paid until a child is three years old.
Best Start Foods provides:
- £21.60 every four weeks throughout pregnancy
- £43.20 every four weeks from birth until a child turns one or reaches the first anniversary of its estimated delivery date, whichever is later
- £21.60 every four weeks from one until a child turns three.
Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment helps with the costs of being pregnant and having a baby. People can apply for the payment from the end of the 24th week of pregnancy up until 6 months after the baby is born. Pregnancy and Baby Payment is £767.50 for the first child and £383.75 for a second child and any more after that.
A study into Best Start Foods found the payment helps people buy more healthy foods. Families who benefit from Best Start Foods develop healthier shopping habits and buy healthier snacks for their children, instead of high fat or high sugar foods like crisps or chocolate. The payment gives people the freedom to experiment with new healthy recipes without worrying about wasting money or food.
Best Start Foods provides vital support to the families who need it most. It has been called a ‘lifesaver,’ by some families. For others the payments have freed up money for things like household bills or clothes for their children. Healthcare professionals also report that their clients seem less worried about money thanks to Best Start Foods.
World Health Day marks the foundation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948. It is celebrated annually and each year draws attention to a specific health topic.
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