Relax, they say, and you'll get calm children. Women who suffer anxiety during pregnancy are, apparently, twice as likely to have a hyperactive child. Worried mums-to-be are believed to produce more of the stress hormone cortisol, which can affects the unborn baby, says a study by London University.

So, a fraught mum increases her chances of having a stressed-out child,

Now let's see what I remember from my own pregnancy.

Ahhh, yes, even before conception, there was all the advice stressing the need to eat folic acid with meals to increase your chances of having of a healthy baby. I panicked wildly every time I forgot.

Then there were all those food dos and don'ts, both from health visitors and the media.

I didn't mind having to avoid undercooked meat and raw eggs - who, other than a few survival fanatics living in dug-outs would eat that stuff anyway?

But all the other things - poultry, liver, ice cream, mayonnaise, food containing eggs, fatty food...

The only thing I could swallow without fretting was my folic acid tablet.

Now don't get me wrong, I can understand why alcohol is on every pre-natal hit list - but, if I remember rightly, the guidance was as clear as mud.

One minute you're told how a glass of wine won't hurt, so you enjoy a nice tipple with a take-away.

Then, the very next morning, there's a report in the paper from a so-called health expert explaining how even a sip of Lambrusco every three weeks can be risky.

I got so confused that I needed a double vodka to think straight.

About mid-way through my first pregnancy came warnings about coffee, supposedly bringing a threat of miscarriage.

That didn't bother me but, when tea - my lifeblood - appeared on the banned list I almost checked into The Priory.

Thankfully, I don't smoke - which is, quite rightly, not recommended.

On top of all this came the working woman theory - that pregnant career women are 40 times (for some unknown reason I remember the figure) more likely to have a premature baby.

And the research suggesting that mobile phones could put unborn children at risk.

Now women are being told to relax if they want a healthy child.

With all these warnings it's the last thing they're able to do.

I'm not saying there should be no helpful advice, but a lot of it seems to be based on unproven research.

If everyone was bombarded with as much information on what they can and can't do as expectant mums we would be living in a police state.

If children seem boisterous nowadays - and mine certainly are - we know the reason why.