Food for new mums ⏲️ 6 Minute English

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English from BBC

Learning English. I'm Georgie.

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. 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 newborn baby,

making sure they are healthy, warm and safe.

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 cup of 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.

But first I have a question for you, Beth.

A typical pregnancy lasts about forty weeks.

But when does an unborn baby's stomach start to grow

in the mother's womb? Is it:

A) at three weeks,

B) at five weeks, or C) at eight weeks?

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

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 Alison Oman Lawi,

Deputy Director of Nutrition to the United Nations World Food Programme

explaining more to BBC

World Service programme, The Food Chain. 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 needed

in addition during pregnancy.

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.

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. And when Ruma,

whose Panjabi 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:

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, 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.

When Ruma talks about her mother’s help, she

uses the word, gosh!,

an exclamation used to show a feeling of wonder or surprise.

Rum 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. Luckily

Ruma had help from her mum, and also her husband who was

very hands-on, meaning that he was closely involved in organising things

and making decisions and didn't leave it up to someone else.

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 becomes so emotionally disturbed that

you're unable to think or act calmly or to deal with the situation you're in.

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? Sure. I asked you

when an unborn baby's stomach starts to grow.

You guessed it was five weeks, which was... the correct answer

Beth! At about five 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.

Breastfeeding is feeding a baby directly

with milk from their mother's breasts. The exclamation

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

If you’re in a daze,

you feel confused and unable to think clearly, often

because of a shock or surprise. 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.

And finally, the phrasal verb fall apart

means to become seriously emotionally disturbed

so that you're 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.

Bye!