6 Minute English / Eating for two

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

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

And I m Georgie.

If you ask a woman, Are you eating for two? , the phrase has a very specific meaning. You re asking, Are you pregnant? And like many of the idioms we commonly use in English, this phrase contains a little bit of truth. A pregnant woman really is eating for two herself and the baby growing inside her.

The female human body is amazing. During pregnancy, it protects the growing baby by allowing it to take whatever nutrients it needs from the mother. This means it s the mum-to-be, not the baby, who experiences any nutritional problems. It s also the reason why it s so important that pregnant women eat well.

In this programme, we ll be finding out how a woman s relationship to food changes during pregnancy. And, as usual, we ll be learning some useful new vocabulary too.

But first, I have a question for you, Phil. For some pregnant women, finding reliable information on what food to eat can be hard. Finding out about harmful foods to avoid, on the other hand, is much easier. So, according to NHS recommendations, which of these foods should pregnant women NOT eat:

a) chips?b) oily fish? or,c) smoked salmon?

I think the answer is c) smoked salmon.

OK, Phil. We ll find out the correct answer at the end of the programme. Although eating healthy and nutritious food is important for mums and babies, the story gets complicated because of the changes a woman s body goes through during pregnancy. Here s Jaega Wise, presenter of BBC Radio 4 s, The Food Programme, reporting on her experience of pregnancy: