Craving a snack? How about some gourmet popcorn? Pregnancy is as good an excuse as cinema.

Pregnant women love a good snack and a healthy snack is even better. Diva has just launched a new air-popped wholegrain popcorn range that is full of antioxidants, vitamins B and E, minerals and fibre.

To keep the popcorn as healthy as possible, each Diva kernel is air-popped – rather than oil-popped – which means it has the lowest fat levels possible.

Diva snacks are made using only natural ingredients and contain no artificial flavourings, MSG or additives.

The “less than 4g fat” packets include flavours such as Sweet Chipotle Chilli Gourmet and Signorina Pesto.

Apparently, popcorn is the next big thing. The Evening Standard recently reported;

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Author Claudia Spahr, in a new book for older mums entitled Right Time Baby The Complete Guide to Later Motherhood, claims that nearly a quarter of all women in the UK are having babies after 35 and the conception rate for women over forty has doubled in the past ten years.

The book highlights the advantages of having a baby when older. With cutting-edge research into neuroscience, nutrition and psychology, it includes vital information on:

* Preparing for pregnancy and motherhood.

* How to improve egg quality and get pregnant naturally.

* Exercises, relaxation techniques, mind-body connection for conception.

* Increasing your chances of success at IVF.

* Ways to prevent miscarriage.

* How to have the best birth possible.

* Parenting concepts and secrets from cultures around the globe to inspire new mothers.

Okay, so my question is ‘who is Claudia Spahr and what does she know about motherhood?’ – it’s got to be enough to write a new book for older mums on it.

In a nutshell, she has experience in journalism, radio, foreign correspondence and she is a novelist – Claudia based herself in Cambodia to work on a novel, She Nomads, which she completed in Vietnam and New York.

After working on a non-fiction project So What If He’s Younger, she started Right Time Baby The Complete Guide to Later Motherhood.

Blah blah blah… most importantly, Claudia is pregnant (and older) – giving her book gravitas in the eyes of UK mums.

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Stretch marks are the bane of every pregnant woman’s existence, so we give you a rundown of 9 of the best creams for stretch marks.

Here’s the bad news: nine out of 10 women get them in pregnancy and, once there, nothing can get rid of them completely.

Dry those tear stained cheeks; it’s not all bad!

Although no creams for stretch marks will protect you totally, there are products on the market that claim to help fade old stretch marks and prevent new ones from forming.

I religiously slathered my baby bump with Bio-Oil from early on; and I was lucky enough not to incur any obvious stretch marks.

Prima Baby & Pregnancy recently asked nine readers in their third trimester to try a stretch mark cream twice a day for a month; here are the verdicts:

Bio-Oil was described as best for Overall Skin Conditioning and was awarded the title of Great All-Rounder.

Decleor Aroma Sculpt Stretch Mark Restructuring Gel was labelled best Affordable Luxury.

Mothercare It’s Your Body was described as best Value For Money.

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The politics of pregnancy can sometimes be tricky.

Although childbirth should be a happy and exciting experience, sometimes imminent joy can be overshadowed by the stress of managing your pregnancy at work, the first issue being when to tell work you are pregnant.

Babylaw is a niche employment law practice that specialises exclusively in maternity related law.

The agency recognises that on the occasion, pregnancy elicits unwanted discriminatory treatment in the workplace, which can lead to emotional distress, pressures on personal relationships, financial hardship and health problems.

Joanna Robson is the principle employment law solicitor and founder of Babylaw and in answer to one of the most commonly asked questions relating to being pregnant at work, namely when to tell work you are pregnant, Joanna says:

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Pregalates.  Sounds kind of lame, right? All I can say is don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Flabby belly boobs and bottom are a pregnant woman’s worst pregnancy body image fear.  Keep fit during pregnancy with pilates, it can help – and that is exciting news.

Pilates expert Tasha Lawton has recently launched a DVD that explains a unique range of safe pregnancy exercises. Tasha was pregnant herself throughout filming of her Pregalates series, and so she naturally demonstrates which Pilates exercises apply at each stage of pregnancy.

This means the tempo of every 45 minute workout is ideally paced.

It comes as a nice change to have an actually-pregnant woman doing the instructing, as opposed to some Jordanesque hot blonde who we know is going for a visit to the Doctor of Botox-cum-Tummy-Tuck after she has popped her baby out.

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