150 Common English Words And Phrases for Women

Woman, women. Does this pronunciation  difference confuse you?  

Woman is singular and the vowel  sounds are /ʊ/ and /ə/. /`wʊ-mən/  

Women is plural and the vowel sounds  

are /ı/ and /ı/. /`wı-mın/ /`wı-mın/  

/`wʊ-mən/ /`wı-mın/ Now whether you are a  

woman, or have women in your life? Today’s English lesson of over 150  

female-focused words & phrases  will be useful to everyone.  

Building vocabulary is important for fluency  and so I highly recommend that you make  

notes while watching, or you can download  the PDF for free by joining my mailing list.  

Simply pause the video, click on the link  and enter your details. The best part is,  

I will then send you all future lesson notes too. Right, let’s begin the lesson.  

Do you wear makeup? I do, makeup  makes me feel more confident.  

Some people refer to makeup as war paint  that a woman puts on before heading out  

into the world to face her battles. But whether you wear make up or not..  

Let’s learn some basic makeup vocabulary.  

Makeup products may be referred to  as cosmetics or beauty products.  

Cosmetics, this refers to substances  that you put on your body or face to  

improve its quality or appearance. “Our weekly shop is quite expensive,  

mainly because of all the cosmetics my  teenage girls put into the trolley.”  

The first thing we do is moisturise  or hydrate our skin using moisturiser,  

also known as face or body cream. You can get  eye cream, foot cream, hand cream, and many  

other specialised creams for different purposes. Some people might use a makeup base or primer  

to prepare the skin for the next layer of  makeup, it may also be lightly tinted.  

Tinted means slightly coloured, we  often talk about tinted glasses,  

but can also have a tinted moisturiser. These  tinted creams give your skin a bit of colour,  

and make you look like you have a suntan. Now all our faces are different and uniquely  

beautiful with our individual imperfections. “I think my biggest insecurity about aging skin  

is getting lots of wrinkles. I don’t mind getting  spots or having big pores because I can hide  

those, but wrinkles are much harder to disguise.  I guess I just have to learn to embrace them.”  

Wrinkle. A wrinkle - a line or fold in the skin.  As we get older, we get more and more wrinkles,  

and some wrinkles can be quite deep. A pore [pɔ:] is a tiny opening in the  

skin that allows oils and sweat to reach the  surface. We all have lots of pores on our face  

and all over our skin. Some pores are  bigger and more noticeable than others.  

A flaw [flɔ:], which has the same vowel  sound as the previous word [pɔ:] - [flɔ:].  

A flaw is a fault or an imperfection. “I have many flaws; scars, wrinkles,  

blemishes. But they are mine and  they each tell a story about my  

life. Frankly, I think flawless is boring.” Another word for a visible flaw is blemish.  

[`blemıʃ] This is a spot or a mark  

“Drinking lots of water and avoiding sugar  helps to reduce the appearance of blemishes.”  

Acne [`æknı] is a common skin condition  that results in lots of spots or pimples.  

A spot or a pimple is a small hard  temporarily inflamed spot on the skin.  

“As a teenager, I had terrible acne, I was  even on medication for it at one point.  

However, since I hit 26 it’s  really not been an issue for me.  

I have the occasional breakout but usually  only a few spots on my back and face.”  

Concealer. Concealer is a thick makeup that can  hide blemishes. Conceal means to hide something.  

“Ah I have a spot coming upright on the end of  my nose, I can’t see it yet but I can feel it’s  

going to be a big one. My photoshoot is tomorrow,  I better go to the shop and buy some concealer.”  

Skin tone. Skin tone refers to the colour of the skin.  

“This top really suits my skin tone.” Dark rings or bags under the eyes  

refers to those dark half circles that appear  under the eyes when we are very tired or unwell.  

“I need to get more sleep, look  at the bags under my eyes.”  

Foundation. [faʊn`deıʃən]  

Foundation is a cream or powder that covers the  skin. It provides an even skin tone and helps  

to hide flaws and blemishes. Now, moving onto the cheeks,  

we can highlight these by adding a  pink powder called blusher. [`blʌʃə]  

You may hear this referred  to as simply blush or rouge.  

Some ladies like to highlight other areas of the  face with a bronzer this is a darker powder like  

a bronze powder that you may use to emphasise  your collar bones, jawline, nose or forehead.  

Now let’s move to the windows  of the soul, the eyes.  

Eyeshadow is a coloured powder  that we apply to the eyelid,  

and sometime around the eye too. Eyeliner is either liquid or a pencil  

and is usually applied in a line  along the edge of the upper eyelid.  

Mascara finishes the look by  emphasising the eyelashes.  

You will see adjectives like lengthening,  

waterproof, and volumising used here. And promises  to lift, curl, lengthen or define your lashes.  

An eyelash curler is a tool that curls  your lashes. Do you use an eyelash curler?  

Personally, I like to use a light-coloured  eyeshadow, then I define my eyes with a  

liquid eyeliner on my top lid, and a  little bit of mascara. As a teenager,  

I used to use dark brown eyeshadow and I’d apply a  pencil eyeliner on the inside of my bottom eyelid.  

Has your makeup style changed over time? Let me know in the comments.  

Let’s move up to the eyebrows. An eyebrow pencil allows you to define  

and darken your eyebrows. Eyebrow gel is also becoming popular  

as a way of holding your eyebrows in place. We don’t want them falling all over the face.  

Now to the cakehole: the mouth,  more specifically the lips.  

You may start by outlining  the lips with a lip liner.  

We then cover the lips with lipstick. Other popular lip cosmetic options are  

lip gloss, this is a shiny, sticky gloss that  doesn’t have the same colour definition as  

lipstick but can lift the lips throughout  the day as it’s easy to apply on the go.  

Lip balm is a lip moisturiser,  some lip balms are tinted.  

At the end of the day, we remove our makeup. You may use soap and water,  

makeup removing wipes, or a cleanser and toner. A cleanser is a product that removes dirt, oil,  

makeup, and dead skin cells from the skin. A toner is used after the cleanser,  

this cleans the skin and contracts the  pores (makes the pore openings smaller).  

So that’s the face done, what about the  body? Well, you don’t really apply much  

to the body other than moisturiser.  You may decide to apply a fake tan,  

also known as tanning lotion…just be careful  if you doing this yourself for the first time.  

Your look can be finished off with a  nice set of nails and a lovely hairdo.  

Nail clippers cut our nails. And a nail file is a tool we  

use to smooth and shape our nails. We can apply nail varnish aka nail  

polish to colour our nails. There’s a variety of  amazing colours and patterns you can choose from.  

To remove the nail varnish, you  will need a nail varnish remover…  

It’s a very original name. Some ladies  go for false nails, that you stick on.  

If you treat yourself to having your nails  trimmed, shaped and painted professionally  

this is called a manicure. [`mænıkjʊə]  

A treatment on your feet and  toe nails is called a pedicure.  

[`pedıkjʊə] Both of these treatments are viewed as  

a luxury or indulgence rather than a necessity. “My fake tan was applied last week and I am  

really pleased with the result. Now, I  am just about to have a mini manicure  

and pedicure in preparation for the ceremony.  Then, I will have my hair done, and get married.  

Wish me luck!” Every month women from around the age of  

13 14 up until their late 40s or  early 50s will experience a period.  

A bleed from their vagina. Now once you hit  around late 40 or 50 a woman will enter what's  

called the menopause and therefore, they  will not have this monthly bleed anymore.  

A bleed which we often refer to as a period  comes at the end of your menstrual cycle.  

Now although we often use the word  period, we also have many other terms.  

So, for example you might hear in medical circles  the term menstruation, menstruation. And on the  

other end of the spectrum, we have lots and lots  of slang terms. There are so many I can't possibly  

mention them all but here are just a few a visit  from Aunt Flo. This is a play on words a pun  

because the blood flows, it's a flow of menstrual  blood it's a menstrual flow, and Flo is also a  

name a female name um short for Florence perhaps. Got the decorators in or got the painters in.  

They're painting, making a mess. That time of the month. Which is  

something I often hear actually. It's a way  to say it without really saying the word  

period which a lot of people find embarrassing.  So, they'll say oh it is that time of the month.  

And riding the cotton pony. Now the cotton pony  I assume refers to the sanitary product that you  

use in order to soak up the flow, the blood. And that brings me on to sanitary products.  

In the UK when you're on your period  there are around three types of products  

that you may use when you have your period. A sanitary towel, a tampon or a menstrual cup.  

Firstly, a sanitary towel also known as a sanitary  pad. Now you can get these in all sorts of shapes  

and sizes. Firstly, some of them come with wings  which are these extra little bits that fold around  

your knickers to hold the sanitary towel in  place. So, this is a sanity towel with wings.  

You can buy sanitary towels without wings and  you will buy them depending on their level of  

absorbency. So, if you have a lot of blood,  you'll need a very absorbent sanitary towel.  

For the time when you don't need the  full support of a sanity towel then  

you can purchase a panty liner. A panty liner  a much smaller thinner version just in case.  

Then we have a tampon. A tampon is an absorbent  piece of material which you insert into your  

vagina and it will absorb the flow and as it  absorbs it expands and it's always on a string.  

Now in the UK the brand Tampax is  so famous that a lot of people use  

the name Tampax to mean a tampon. Very similar to hoover. We will  

use the word hoover to describe most vacuum  cleaners when in fact the word hoover is a brand  

name. It's the same with tampons. I might say  to you do you have a Tampax? And what I'm asking  

for is a tampon. I don't care whether it's a  Tampax brand or not I just need a tampon.  

Anyway, when you're buying tampons, you will  notice they also come in different levels of  

absorbency. So, you get really big ones and then  quite small ones depending on the level of flow.  

But you can also buy them with an applicator or  without an applicator and it really is personal  

preference as to which one you prefer. This one is without an applicator but the  

applicator is a long plastic tube which helps you  to insert the tampon correctly. So, when you're  

buying tampons look out for with applicator or  without to make sure you get the right ones.  

More recently the menstrual cup has become  popular. Now the menstrual cup often in the UK  

known as a moon cup which again I think is a brand  name. The moon cup or a menstrual cup is basically  

a silicone cup which sits inside the  vagina and collects the menstrual flow  

and you empty it clean it and reuse it.  

And I think it's become popular in recent  years because of the environmental impact  

as well as the fact that it saves you  a lot of money on sanitary products.  

Now sometimes we have to talk about our periods  whether it's with our friends or with a doctor.  

So, how do we describe the type  of period that we're having.  

When talking about our period there's normally  five categories your period will fall into.  

Either you're having a heavy period. This  means there is a lot of blood it's very  

heavy on the other hand you could be having a  light period which of course refers to a period  

where there isn't much blood loss. So you might say to your doctor,  

“I’m a bit concerned I normally have very heavy  periods but recently I’ve had light periods.”  

You might have irregular periods. Now because  your period comes the end of a menstrual cycle  

you can usually accurately predict when your  period will start and how long it will last.  

However, if your period starts at different  times every cycle and it's hard to predict  

than you probably have irregular periods. If your period doesn't arrive at all then  

this is called a missed period or you  would say, “I’ve missed a period.”  

And the period that stresses out most of us -  the late period. When you expect your period  

it's teasing you but it doesn't arrive exactly  when it's supposed to leaves you worrying for a  

few days and then finally there it is. Now let's talk about symptoms  

of course you're bleeding it's your period so  blood and bleeding is one of the symptoms.  

Sometimes the bleed isn't always liquid  you might have what's called blood clots,  

little lumps of blood. Worth noting how  big they are because you may want to tell  

your doctor if you get very big blood clots. Now besides the bleeding all the symptoms you  

experience before and around your period can be  referred to as PMS. PMS is pre-menstrual syndrome.  

So, if you're experiencing period symptoms you  can just say to people, “Look I’ve got PMS.”  

And they will understand what's happening. So, what kind of symptoms are we talking about?  

Firstly bloating. Bloating is where your stomach  your abdomen feels swollen and uncomfortable very,  

very full and tight and “Ugh”. You may also get  abdominal cramps we often just shorten it to  

cramps. “I’ve got period cramps,” you might  say. And this is the pain in the lower  

abdomen. “Oh and it really, really does hurt.” Some people experience mood swings, depression,  

irritability. So it really has  an effect on how they feel.  

You may have sore or tender breasts. “Ouch!” Some people experience headaches and a few  

unlucky women also get migraines. You may  experience bad skin. We sometimes just say,  

“I’m getting spotty or I have spots.  It's that time of the month.”  

“Guess what! I'm up the duff. I’ve got a bun in  the oven. I’m expecting! We're having a baby!”  

Yep, these are all ways that  you might say, “I’m pregnant.”  

During my time of pregnancy, I realized that there  are lots and lots of words that are very specific  

to pregnant people. So, let's get started!  

So, the first thing you do if you think  that you are up the duff. If you think  

you're expecting. If you think that you are  with child or that you have a bun in the oven  

then you will take a pregnancy test. Once you've taken the test and it comes  

back as positive... Hurrah you're pregnant  hopefully you're very happy about that.  

The next thing you'll do is go to the doctors to  find out exactly when your baby is due to arrive.  

Now, the word due is used a lot when  talking about a baby's expected arrival.  

So, the day when you are expected to give  birth to that child is your due date.  

So, throughout your pregnancy the  medical professionals will ask,  

“When is your due date?” or “When are you due?” And now that you're pregnant you might refer to  

yourself as a mum-to-be. “I'm a mum-to-be.” Or  if you are the partner of someone who's pregnant  

you might refer to yourself as a dad-to-be  or as a couple you could be parents-to-be.  

Now your pregnancy will last for approximately  nine months. This is called the term.  

So, if your baby gets all the way to  nine months 40 weeks approximately  

then you are at full term and  your baby will hopefully be born  

full term. If your baby is born earlier than 37  weeks of pregnancy then your baby is pre-term  

and then we refer to that baby as premature. These nine months are separated into three  

sections. We have one to three months is  the first trimester. The first trimester.  

The time when you are the most unwell probably. Then we have the time when your bump, your belly,  

really expands and this is the second trimester  month four to month six. The second trimester.  

Then you have the very uncomfortable final  trimester which is referred to as the third  

trimester. Which is month seven up  to month nine. The third trimester.  

Throughout your pregnancy you are going to  suffer with a number of pregnancy symptoms  

for example fatigue, heartburn, cramps,  sleepless nights. Those types of things  

but there are a couple of symptoms that are very  specific to pregnancy. They are morning sickness  

and this is the nausea that you experience  specifically in pregnancy and stretch marks.  

Now stretch marks are the scars and marks  that you get on your skin when your skin is  

expanding with pregnancy. Stretch marks can also  be associated with rapid growth or weight gain.  

And as you're gaining weight you are going  to need to buy some special clothes. Now  

these clothes are referred to as maternity wear.  Maternity wear. And you can describe individual  

items like maternity jeans and maternity  bras, maternity leggings, maternity dress.  

Let's now look at some very common medical terms  that you will hear throughout your pregnancy.  

First off, we have placenta. Placenta.  The placenta is a very important  

interface between baby and mother. It's where they  attach to each other. It's how the mother passes  

things like oxygen and food and all the stuff  the baby needs from her through to the baby.  

And the placenta is attached to the baby via  the umbilical cord. Umbilical. Umbilical cord.  

Now the baby is technically referred  to as a foetus. A foetus which has a  

different spelling between British and  American this is the British spelling.  

Bit weird and the very sensible American spelling. The baby lives very comfortably inside the woman's  

womb. Womb [wu:m]. No ‘b’ on the  end, it's a silent letter. The womb.  

Or the uterus. The uterus [`ju:tərəs]. And inside the womb they are surrounded by  

amniotic fluid. Amniotic fluid which keeps them  safe protected from infections and protected  

from getting bumps and bashes when mum bangs  her tummy into things because she's clumsy.  

Now the opening to the womb  which allows the baby to come  

out eventually is called the cervix. The cervix. And on a very sad note, if the pregnancy doesn't  

continue if something goes wrong and the  baby doesn't survive the pregnancy it's  

called a miscarriage. A miscarriage. Now throughout the pregnancy you will  

check on your little one to make sure everything  is progressing well via a scan. You will have a  

scan you can have a 2D scan or a 4D scan which  is what we had and it was amazing to see.  

Our little baby's face. A couple of other events  that you might mark throughout your pregnancy  

are a baby shower. Which is a party to  celebrate a woman moving into motherhood.  

And you may also go on a baby moon. Which is  a holiday that you have with your partner to  

enjoy the time that you have left before the  baby comes and turns your world upside down.  

Throughout your pregnancy you'll be looked  after by your doctor and by a midwife. A  

midwife is a medical professional who specializes  in looking after pregnant women and going through  

labour and childbirth with them as well. Some women also decide to have a doula.  

A doula is like a birthing coach someone who  helps you through labour and through childbirth.  

Now at the end of your pregnancy you  will be rewarded with a beautiful baby.  

And we're gonna dive straight in and  learn some vocabulary around childbirth.  

So, first we talk about having a baby or giving  birth. So, you have a baby, but you give birth  

to a baby. You may also hear the verb deliver used  when talking about having a baby. You deliver a  

baby. And often the room in the hospital where the  baby is delivered is called the delivery room.  

It actually reminds me of the  story of babies being delivered by  

a stork. Do you have something similar in your  country to explain where babies come from?  

You will be giving birth to your baby when you are  full term, hopefully. Now if your pregnancy lasts  

longer than 40 weeks perhaps you go to 41 weeks,  42 weeks maybe even longer than that - you are  

overdue! You're overdue. Your baby is overdue. Commonly when talking about giving birth we will  

talk about how we gave birth. There are two main options.  

You either have a vaginal birth. Now this is the  medical term (vaginal birth) that means the child  

comes out through your vagina in  the way that nature intended.  

However, us Brits get embarrassed when  saying words like vagina or vaginal.  

So instead, we prefer to say natural  birth. “I had a natural birth!”  

Another way to give birth is via a caesarean  section. Otherwise known as a C-section. Much  

easier and quicker to say. A C-section is where a  cut or an incision is made through the abdominal  

wall and the baby is released that way and  brought into the world through your tummy.  

You may hear some people saying that they had a  water birth. This is a vaginal birth the baby was  

delivered naturally but in water, in a special  pool, in the labour ward or perhaps at home.  

In order to have a natural birth  you must go through a process called  

labour. Labour is laborious. Labour the word means  ‘hard work’. So, your body does a lot of hard work  

in order to push that baby out of your body. When  talking about this process we talk about going  

into labour and being in labour. So, if a woman  comes into the hospital and she is about to give  

birth you would say this woman is in labour. Hopefully labour will start naturally or  

spontaneously, but in a lot of cases  labour will need to be induced.  

So, an induction will be necessary. If your labour  is induced then medical intervention is required  

to start the labour off. There are a number of  

ways in which they can do this. First of all, your midwife or your doctor  

will try a membrane sweep or a cervical sweep. This is where they rub their fingers along the  

cervix to separate the membrane or something  like that. But they basically give it a little  

rub to hopefully get things going. If that doesn't work then you will be  

properly induced. First, they will try something  called a pessary. A pessary. This is a tablet  

or sometimes they use a gel that is inserted  into the vagina and it melts and releases  

hormones I believe to stimulate the cervix  to thin and start the process of labour.  

Another way to induce labour is to use  a hormone drip. So, they drip fluids  

directly into your veins and this is done  via a cannula which is a needle and a little  

opening that they put into your vein in your hand  usually so that they can easily put fluids in.  

A cannula once you are in labour if you're in  the hospital you are likely to have at some  

point a vaginal exam. Now the vaginal exam is  firstly to check has your mucous plug come out.  

A mucus plug is a plug of mucus that plugs the  cervix. So, it's the little plug that keeps  

everything in the uterus. And once that comes  away hopefully then your waters will break.  

Now the water's breaking we're referring  to the amniotic fluid in the fluid sac,  

the amniotic sac that surrounds the baby. Once  that ruptures all the fluid comes away and the  

baby is ready to be born. We talk about this  coming away of fluid as the water's breaking.  

So where did your waters break? Now,  my waters broke at home luckily.  

But it happened pre-term and I wasn't in labour. My membrane ruptured, my waters broke  

and all the amniotic fluid came away and then I  knew I had to go to the hospital because at some  

point soon I should hopefully go into labour.  And once those waters have broken that baby is  

no longer protected so that baby has to come out. I have to have a vaginal exam and in this vaginal  

exam they are also looking to see whether  or not your cervix has begun to dilate.  

Dilate. Dilation is the word  that we use to talk about the  

opening of the cervix and we  talk about it in centimetres.  

So, normally when you're about to give  birth your cervix will be around 10  

centimetres dilated so it'll be quite wide open.  Probably not that big. Maybe more like that.  

And that will then allow the baby to come through.  But earlier on in labour in my case for example  

when I was in labour. I only got to around  four centimetres dilation. And that was tough.  

The pains that you experience during  labour are referred to as contractions.  

Now the word contraction has many  different meanings but in labour  

it solely refers to the tightening of the  muscles that naturally push the baby out.  

Let's talk about the pain relief  that you use during labour.  

Firstly, we have hypnobirthing. Hypnobirthing is  where you use the power of positive thought you  

use techniques like breathing and visualization  in order to have a drug free childbirth.  

Commonly many women will use gas and air which you  just suck up and it instantly relieves the pain.  

There are of course then pain relief medicines  that you can have injected there are a number  

of those or you can opt to have an epidural. An epidural is an injection that goes into  

your back and it makes you paralyzed from the  waist down so you don't feel any of the pain.  

Similar to that you have something called a spinal  block. The difference between an epidural and a  

spinal block is simply how long it lasts. I had a spinal block when I then had to go  

for an emergency C-section. So  they gave me a spinal block so  

I couldn't feel the incision in my abdomen. If you're having a natural birth then there  

are a few things that will happen the baby will  start crowning when he comes towards the end. So,  

when you can see the baby's head when he's just  about to pop out that is the baby crowning.  

Now hopefully his head won't  be so big that he tears you.  

When we talk about a tear down below, we, we  talk about it in first second third degrees of  

tearnastiness. So, if it's a very bad  tear it might be a third-degree tear.  

If it's not a bad tear it will be  a first degree or a second degree.  

I’m not a doctor. I’m not quite sure  exactly how it works but they are tears.  

Now to avoid you tearing down there you might  have to have what's called an episiotomy  

where the doctors or the midwife will cut a little  a little bit of the skin down below in order  

to release a bit of pressure to allow the baby  to come out without tearing you in a bad way.  

And that's called an episiotomy. Now the  area they usually cut is between the vagina  

and the anus and this is called the  perineum, I believe. The perineum.  

Lots of new words. Episiotomy, perineum. If the baby is struggling to come out then the  

doctors may need to use forceps which are like two  spoons that they put in to help pull the baby out. 

Now whether you have a natural birth or a  c-section there is a risk of haemorrhaging.  

Especially once you give birth to the  placenta do you remember what the placenta is? 

We talked about it in the pregnancy vocabulary it  is the interface between the baby and the mother  

attached to the baby via the umbilical  cord, so that is the placenta. Once you  

give birth to that some people have a  risk of haemorrhaging. Hemorrhaging. 

And at some point, after the baby has been  delivered someone has to cut the cord.  

Usually, it's daddy who cuts the cord but  it might be some other member of your family  

or a friend or maybe just one  of the medical professionals  

When I was in the hospital, I shared a room with a  lady suffering from preeclampsia. Preeclampsia.  

Preeclampsia is a condition involving high blood  pressure which is a danger to your pregnancy. So,  

when you are pregnant your doctors will keep an  eye on you to check for signs of preeclampsia.  

Once your beautiful baby is here in the world  their first bowel movement their first poop  

will be called meconium poo. It's a very  different texture to their poo afterwards.  

The first few days that poo is like tar it's  black it's sticky and we call it meconium.  

Oh, it's very sticky. Finally, the types of  

medical professionals you are likely to come into  contact with throughout pregnancy and childbirth  

are a midwife who specializes only in  supporting pregnancy and childbirth.  

Then above that you have an obstetrician.  Obstetrician which is a doctor  

that specializes in pregnancy and childbirth. Then we have a paediatrician. A paediatrician.  

A paediatrician specializes in the treatment  of children. A gynaecologist. A gynaecologist.  

A gynaecologist is a doctor that specializes in  women's reproductive health so everything down  

there a gynaecologist will look after. And finally, if you require an epidural  

so if you're having a C-section or  an epidural for natural childbirth  

you will see an anaesthetist. Anaesthetist. That  one is a difficult one to say [ə-`ni:s-θə-tıst].  

Time to learn some newborn baby  vocabulary and childbirth vocabulary.  

So, you have a newborn baby. Now the term newborn  can be used on its own. So newborn can be a noun  

rather than an adjective. You have a newborn baby  or you simply have a newborn. I have a newborn.  

If I’m having something delivered, I will  leave a note for the delivery driver saying  

I have a newborn please be patient as it  might take me longer to answer the door.  

If you do have a newborn you will often  be asked whether you are breastfeeding  

or bottle feeding. So do you feed your baby  breast milk or formula which is a special  

milk made up from cow's milk and lots of  additional good things for your baby.  

Some people do a combination of the two a  little breast milk and a little formula.  

I am breastfeeding but I also express my milk  using a breast pump. So, I pump the milk out  

manually with an electric breast pump and I store  it so that I can feed my baby with a bottle later  

on. So, I’m bottle feeding but with breast milk. Now when using a bottle, you really have to think  

about which kind of teat or nipple you will  have on the bottle. They come in all sorts  

of different levels of flow. So, a newborn  baby will need a teat that has a slow flow  

so they don't eat too much or choke on the milk. And if you are using bottles then you will have to  

sterilize them using a sterilizer perhaps. If  you pass me an empty bottle for me to put in my  

expressed breast milk I may ask you,  “Has this bottle been sterilized?”  

Another item that you will want to sterilize  is a dummy. A dummy. Now a dummy is referred to  

often as a pacifier or in more recent times  a binky in American English. But in British  

English we still commonly refer to it as a dummy. Weaning is when you start taking them away from  

drinking breast milk and formula and putting them  on to real food. Often referred to as solids.  

“Is your baby eating solid yet?  Have you introduced solids?”  

The decision to stop breastfeeding to wean  your child and introduce solids may come as  

a result of the child teething. Teething. When a child experiences teething it means  

that they are growing their teeth out their  teeth are coming through. Some women are not  

comfortable with their child breastfeeding  when they have teeth coming through.  

But something I can say from experience  is breastfeeding is very helpful as a  

comforter to your child especially when  they have to have things like vaccinations.  

Vaccinations. Vaccines are given to babies  from the very first day and they have many  

of them as they grow and these vaccinations  can be quite distressing for the child.  

So, popping them onto the breast for a quick  comforting feed makes them feel better when they  

have those horrid needles stuck into their legs. Let's talk about mum. After having a newborn mum  

enters a period called postpartum. The postpartum period. The time  

after having a new baby. This time can be  very emotional. Many women experience it  

ups and downs and some women even feel depressed. Depression in a postpartum period is called  

postnatal depression or  sometimes shortened to PND.  

“Have you ever suffered with postnatal  depression?” It is very common.  

If breastfeeding the mum will also have  experienced engorged breasts. Engorged. This  

means when your breasts are so full of milk  that they become hard and painful and swollen.  

They are engorged and easily relieved by  expressing some of the milk or breastfeeding.  

If you have chosen to breastfeed,  you'll be wearing a special type of  

bra this is called a nursing bra. It will obviously be bigger than your  

ordinary bras because your breasts will be a lot  bigger and they also have special clips just here,  

so that you can unclip and get easy access to  the nipple without removing the whole bra.  

And within the bra you'll have to wear  something called a breast pad. These  

are special absorbent pads that go inside the  bra especially to catch the leaks of milk so  

that you don't make a mess of your clothing. If like me you had a caesarean, a C-section  

then you will have a caesarean scar. So  people might ask you, “How is your scar?  

Is it healing well? Is it large? Is it small?” Now enough about mom. Let's come back  

to baby and the items that a baby wears. Now often babies wear a vest, a cute vest with  

no arms or legs and often they have poppers at the  bottom so you can easily access their nappies.  

It's nappy in British English.  Diaper in American English.  

Also, we have a baby grow or all in one. It  looks like this with long arms and long legs.  

Now because babies’ nails are very sharp and they  scratch themselves we often put them in scratch  

mitts. Tiny little mittens to cover their hands  to stop them from making a mess of their faces.  

And some parents like to put little booties on  their babies. Tiny little boots they are very cute  

not very practical but still sweet to look at. From about nine weeks old babies begin to dribble  

a lot. And in order to catch the dribble and to  stop it from going on their clothes and wetting  

their vests they often wear a bib. A bib just  a piece of material that goes around the neck.  

And for the moments when they throw up or vomit  or are sick you will need a muslin which is just  

a piece of cloth that's nice and soft absorbent  ready for those little sicky moments or snotty  

moments or even dribble or when you spill food. Very handy. We have literally about 50 muslins  

around our house to catch all of that stuff. When wrapping your baby up to keep them  

nice and warm particularly for bed we are  often advised to use a cellular blanket.  

A cellular blanket. And these are blankets  with little holes in them so that they are  

breathable so your baby doesn't get too hot. This is what they use in the hospitals and this  

is what they recommend you use for your baby. A lot of babies these days have special baby  

sleeping bags sometimes referred to as grow  bags. And many babies have a thermometer in  

their bedroom so you know the temperature  and you know how to dress them for bed.  

Now a baby's bedroom is often referred to  as a nursery. A nursery. And a baby's bed  

is called a cot or a crib. A cot or a crib. And a  very small basket-type bed that you put a newborn  

in is called a Moses basket. A Moses basket. For the times when you need to be mobile  

you will put a child into a pram that's sometimes  referred to as a buggy or once they're sitting  

upright a pushchair. If you're taking them out  in the car they'll need to go into a car seat.  

But if they're just hanging out in the front room  you might want to put them down in a baby bouncer.