For a festival with childbirth at its religious heart, it is perverse how much of our traditional Christmas spread isn't recommended for pregnant women. Pre-pregnancy, this was not something I'd clocked. I was the soft cheese supremo, canape queen at my happiest with a smoked trout blini in one hand and a champagne flute in the other. Then one day in October, two blue lines appeared on a test result and everything started to change: my body, my future and most pressingly my Christmas.
We've seen a 32% increase in non-alcoholic submissions to the Proof Awards compared to just two years ago. What's remarkable isn't just the quantity but the extraordinary quality and innovation we're witnessing in this category.