Learning English

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Learn more about food
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• Fighting loneliness with soup
• What is the future of work?
• How the language of menus matters

Introduction

What do mothers eat after giving birth? Does it depend on which country you are from? Georgie and Beth discuss this and teach you some useful vocabulary.

This week's question

When does an unborn baby’s stomach start to grow in the mother’s womb? Is it:

a) at 3 weeks?
b) at 5 weeks? or,
c) at 8 weeks?

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

Vocabulary

breastfeeding
feeding a baby directly with milk from the mother’s breasts

postpartum
after giving birth; following childbirth

gosh!
exclamation used to express a feeling of surprise or wonder

in a daze
feeling confused and unable to think clearly, often because of a shock or surprise

hands-on
closely involved in organizing things and making decisions, rather than just talking about it or getting someone else to do it

fall apart
become seriously emotionally disturbed so that you are unable to think calmly or to deal with the difficult situation you are in

 

TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Georgie
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Georgie.

Beth
And I’m Beth. Leaving home, getting married, and a parent dying are three of the most important experiences in many people’s lives. But perhaps the most defining moment in some women’s’ lives is ‘the miracle of birth’, in other words, having a baby.

Georgie
Throughout pregnancy a lot of care and attention is given to expecting mums. But as soon as the baby is born, this attention moves to the new-born baby, making sure they are healthy, warm and safe.

Beth
We talk a lot about baby nutrition, but what the mother eats can be just as important, especially the first meal after the intense effort of giving birth, whether it’s chicken soup, a glass of champagne, or a good old cuppa tea. In this programme, we’re talking about what women eat and drink in the first few weeks after having a baby. And, as usual, we’ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

Georgie
But first I have a question for you, Beth. A typical pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, but when does an unborn baby’s stomach start to grow in the mother’s womb? Is it:

a) at 3 weeks?
b) at 5 weeks? or,
c) at 8 weeks?

Beth
I’ll say the baby's tummy starts to grow at about five weeks.

Georgie
OK, Beth, we’ll find out if that's the correct answer later in the programme. Giving birth is not called ‘labour’ for nothing – it’s hard work, leaving the new mum physically and emotionally exhausted, and in need of food that’s nourishing, for both herself and her baby. Here’s Allison Oman Lawi, deputy director of nutrition to the United Nations World Food Programme, explaining more to BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain:

Allison Oman Lawi
A woman who is breastfeeding and during that postpartum time, the first six months, she could need up to 650 additional calories a day which actually is quite a bit more than she even needed in addition during pregnancy.

Beth
Alison says that women need to eat even more calories postpartum, meaning after childbirth, than they do during pregnancy. That’s especially true for mothers who are breastfeeding, feeding their baby directly with milk from her breasts.

Georgie
How new mums get those extra calories changes from place to place, and different cultures have developed their own traditions about what foods are best. For Chinese-American mum, Heng Ou, roast pig trotters were one of the best things to eat after childbirth because they contain a lot of collagen which helps produce breast milk.

Beth
And when Ruma, who’s Punjabi family originally comes from India, gave birth to a baby boy, her mother cooked panjeeri, a kind of spicy nut mix with cashews, almonds and melon seeds to promote breast milk and help the healing process. Listen now as Ruma explains how important her mother’s help was, to BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain:

Ruma
So, the first 10 days were amazing. My mum came to stay and gosh! it was so important because I had a C-section so I was on very strong painkillers, I was in a daze anyway, and to be honest because she was here I was fed, you know, so she would look after me while I would look after baby. And my husband was very hands-on as well, so that first ten days whilst it was really hard, I didn't fall apart which I might have done if I'd been by myself.

Georgie
When Ruma talks about her mother’s help, she uses the word, gosh!, an exclamation used to show a feeling of wonder or surprise. Ruma also says she was in a daze because of medicine she was taking for pain. If someone is in a daze, they feel confused and cannot think clearly, maybe because of a shock or surprise.

Beth
Luckily, Ruma had help from her mum, and also her husband who was very hands-on, meaning that he was closely involved in organizing things and making decisions, and didn’t leave it up to someone else.

Georgie
Along with her mother’s healthy home cooking, the help Ruma got from her family meant she didn’t fall apart, a phrase which means become so emotionally disturbed that you’re unable to think or act calmly, or to deal with the situation you’re in.

Beth
New mums have to be expert jugglers, balancing a new baby and recovering from childbirth, with getting too little sleep. No wonder they need hot healthy food to eat! Right, isn’t it time you revealed the answer to your question, Georgie?

Georgie
Sure. I asked you when an unborn baby’s stomach starts to grow. You guessed it was at five weeks, which was… the correct answer, Beth! At about 5 weeks, the cells forming a baby’s stomach, lungs, bone and brain all start to divide and grow. Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned in this programme starting with postpartum meaning following childbirth.

Beth
Breastfeeding is feeding a baby directly with milk from the mother’s breasts.

Georgie
The exclamation gosh! is used to express a feeling of surprise or wonder.

Beth
If you’re in a daze, you feel confused and unable to think clearly, often because of a shock or surprise.

Georgie
If someone is hands-on, they’re closely involved in organizing things and making decisions, rather than just talking about it or getting someone else to do it.

Beth
And finally, the phrasal verb fall apart means to become seriously emotionally disturbed so that you are unable to think calmly or to deal with the difficult situation you are in. Once again our six minutes are up! Join us again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

Georgie
Bye!