EVERY mum-to-be knows the importance of eating properly, but the food handed out to Libyan asylum seeker Aminah hardly fits the bill – apart from the fruit.

In her daily pack there is a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich, a packet of salted crisps and a cake bar.

So how does that compare to the recommended menu for pregnant women?

The NHS advice is that a “healthy diet” is especially important during pregnancy or when planning one, to help the baby develop and grow.

READ MORE: Aminah’s Baby Appeal: Fundraiser for pregnant asylum seeker stuck in hotel

A daily variety of different foods is recommended to get the right balance of nutrients that mother and baby need.

“Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, which helps digestion and can help prevent constipation,” said the NHS.

READ MORE: Priti Patel aims to 'crack down' on protests and change asylum rules in 2022

Robina Qureshi, director of the charity Positive Action in Housing (PAIH), which launched the appeal to help Aminah, criticised the food provision.

She told The National: "It's a matter of deep shame that in this country, one of the richest countries in the world, there is a heavily pregnant woman who has fled persecution along with her partner - and has been fed crisps for breakfast and forced to collect food rations from crates for the past 15 months."

Aminah and her husband Faraj have been living in a Glasgow guest house since November 2020 as they await a decision on their asylum claim.

Campaigners said they receive no financial support, although they are supposed to be given £8 a week each for “essential living costs”, such as bus tickets, phone calls and food (so-called Section 95 support).

Their lawyer has said the Home Office will not provide this until they are moved into accommodation, even though the High Court has ruled that asylum seekers must receive their essential living costs.

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The room that Aminah and her husband occupy has no cooking facilities. They get drinking water from a sink in the toilet.

Residents are forced to collect food in plastic cartons at set times from large green delivery crates dumped in the dining area of the guesthouse each day. Lunch and dinner consists of a sandwich, pasta or rice served in plastic cartons and on two or three days of the week, the couple go without food because the meal contains pork, while they only eat halal. They queue at food banks on these days.

The NHS recommends at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day, which can include fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juiced.

READ MORE: MP's shock at living conditions for asylum seekers

Mums-to-be are also urged to eat some protein-rich foods every day, along with dairy produce such as milk, cheese, fromage frais and yoghurt – all of which contain calcium and other nutrients that mothers and babies need.

Small sandwiches, like that in Aminah’s pack, are recommended as snacks, along with salad vegetables, low-fat yoghurts or fromage frais with fruit, hummus with wholemeal pitta bread and ready to eat apricots, figs or prunes.

Qureshi told The National that asylum seekers were spending extended periods in hotels.

She said: “The main concerns we have is that asylum seekers are kept in hotels for long periods of time, not just a few days but months, and we think it’s because they are getting away with not giving asylum seekers money or paying other accommodation costs.”

The Home Office has been approached for comment.