Drinks firm Diageo funds pregnancy health initiative

“But it costs money, and thanks to Diageo we expect we will be educating in the next three years 10,000 midwives. Ultimately, if it all goes well, they will reach at least a million women.”

But Vivienne Nathanson from British Medical Association said there were concerns over the scheme.

“They certainly have a conflict of interest because it’s in the interest of the drinks industry for people to continue to drink and it’s in the interest of health for people to drink much less, and certainly not to drink during pregnancy or to drink really minimally.

“I think the issue for us would be if money is given by the industry, it must be given to an honest broker, a third party.”

GP Sarah Jarvis said: “I tend to say to my patients, look, if you have had one glass of wine before you were pregnant, I do not want you to beat yourself up about it, you are highly unlikely to have done any damage.”

Diageo’s involvement is part of the government’s “responsibility deal”, which involves working with big business, charities and the retail sector to help people lead healthier lives.