The worst place to be a mother

 

Jen:             Hello and welcome to another edition of 6 minute English. My name is Jennifer. 

Neil:            And I'm Neil. 

Jen:             And today we are going to talk about research that looks at conditions for 

                 mothers in different countries. 

Neil:             I've heard that in Brazil they say that "to be a mother is to suffer in paradise" 

                 because motherhood is rewarding due to the love between child and mother 

                 but it's not an easy job. 

Jen:             Well, according to a report by the charity Save the Children, in some countries 

                 motherhood seems to be more challenging than in others. They compared 

                 conditions for mothers in 165 countries. 

Neil:             And what sort of factors did they take into account when ranking these 

                 countries, Jen? 

Jen:             Health, education, social status and nutrition. These were the factors 

                 researchers investigated when compiling this list. 

Neil:             But before we talk about Save the Children's conclusions, let's start with a 

                 question for our listeners about mothers and for me too. 

Jen:             Well Neil, it's about the oldest woman to give birth. It's a Spanish woman and 

                 it happened in 2006. How old was she? 

                 a)      58 years old 

                 b)      66 years old      or 

                 c)      72 years old      ? 

Neil:            72?! Now you're pushing it, I think. It has to be… a) 58. That sounds almost 

                 reasonable considering advancements¹ in medicine… 

Jen:              We'll hear the answer at the end of the programme. Now, back to our story 

                 about mothers. A huge problem that's highlighted in the report is nutrition or 

                 malnutrition². 

Neil:            Women need to eat properly to give birth to healthy children. 

Jen:              Let's listen to the first part of the report by the BBC's Mike Wooldridge to hear 

                 about the problem of malnutrition. See if you can hear which word is used to 

                 mean 'to stop someone from growing'. 

Neil:            So the reporter says that malnutrition produces stunting³, which means that 

                 people don't grow properly. Here the reporter says malnutrition undermines 

                 physical and mental growth. 

Jen:              That's right; because mothers are stunted⁴ in childhood they have children 

                 who are underweight and vulnerable. And it creates what the reporter calls a 

                 vicious cycle. 

Neil:            A vicious cycle means that the problem keeps repeating itself… mothers 

                 suffer from malnutrition, so their children suffer from malnutrition … then 

                 these children grow up and have children who are also vulnerable … and it 

                 goes on and on. 

Jen:             And many of the countries at the bottom of the Save the Children's list – the 

                 worst places to live for mothers – a facing a food crisis. 

Neil:            So which country faces lack of foodstuff⁵ and, according to the Save the 

                 Children report, was the worst for mothers, Jen? 

Jen:             The next part of the report tells us which country is at the bottom of the index 

                 and also which one has moved up one position. See if you can hear what has 

                 happened to it. 

Neil:            We hear that Niger is at the epicentre of the food emergency, it means that 

                 it is in the centre, the main position, of an area where lack of food is dramatic. 

Jen:             Well, the report also says that Afghanistan was the last one in the list for two 

                 years but is no longer the worst place to be a mother. Because they've 

                 invested more into frontline health workers. 

Neil:            These are medical workers like doctors and dentists. They made conditions for 

                 mothers a little bit better. 

Jen:             Sometimes simple measures can improve the lives of mothers and their 

                 children. One example is given in the next section of the report. Let's hear it. 

Jen:             A simple way of saving children is by helping⁶ more mothers to provide milk 

                 from their breast to their babies. Breast milk is known to be very nutritious⁷ for 

                 children. Breastfeeding can save the lives of a million children a year. 

Neil:            And the report also says that Norway is the best place to be a mother. Very 

                 different realities there. Well Jen, we are running out of time and I'd like to 

                 have the result of the quiz please. 

Jen:             It was about the oldest woman to give birth. It's a Spanish woman and it 

                 happened in 2006. How old was she? 

                 a)  58 years old 

                 b)  66 years old     or 

                 c)  72 years old      ? 

Neil:            I said it was a) 58. 

Jen:             And you were actually wrong! It's b) 66 years old and the oldest mother, 

                 according to the Guinness Book of Record is Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara, 

                 who gave birth by caesarean section to twin boys, aged⁸ 66 years 358 days at 

                 the Sant Pau hospital, Barcelona, Spain. That was on the 29th of December 

                 2006. And Maria received IVF treatment in America. 

Neil:            Well, you get some right and you get some wrong! And I got that wrong so … 

                 before we finish, let's hear the words from today's programme one more time. 

                  to undermine 

                 to stunt 

                 a vicious cycle 

                  a food crisis 

                  to be at the epicentre of something 

                  a frontline health worker 

                  to breastfeed 

Jen:             That's all from us for this week. Goodbye! 

Neil:             Goodbye! 

 

1 advancements   

n.（级别的）晋升( advancement的名词复数 )；前进；进展；促进

参考例句：

• Today, the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements. 当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Great advancements in drought prediction have been made in recent years. 近年来，人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步。 来自互联网

2 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

3 stunting   

v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To report three-year-old twin brothers with speech stunting. 目的报道孪生兄弟同患语言发育迟缓的临床结果。 来自互联网
• No one should talk while stunting except coach or back spotter. 在技巧进行的过程中，只有教练或后保能说话。 来自互联网

4 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

5 foodstuff   

n.食料，食品

参考例句：

• They handled groceries and foodstuff.他们经营食品杂货。
• Construct a international foodstuff promotion and exhibition trade center.建成国际食品会展经贸中心。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

8 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。