In mid-March another famous baby George was born, this one in Bristol, and he got really popular for very different reasons.
Self-study activity:
Watch the two-minute video clip below and say whether the statements below are true or false.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
1 The baby hasn't put on any weight since he was born.
2 There were more than twenty doctors in the delivery room.
3 Despite his size, the baby didn't have any health problems when he was born.
4 The baby and his mum were sent home after four days in hospital.
5 Both the baby's mother and father were big when they were born.
6 Baby George isn't the biggest baby born naturally in the UK.
7 The mother is looking forward to having more babies.
You can check the answers and read the transcript below.
Six weeks on, mum Jade still can’t quite believe it. George was born twice the size of an average baby. He’s only put on a pound since.
He didn’t fit in into any of his newborn and he’s constrained to sort of three-to-six months clothes.
This is what mum was expecting him to wear, but he needs clothes twice the size.
When his head was out, that’s when they realized he was so big, and then his shoulders got stuck, and that’s when sort of everything sort of kicked off really. There was about 20 odd doctors in the room, and that’s when I got really scary.
Because no one knew he would be so big, doctors struggled to deliver him, George went without oxygen for five minutes. He was given a 10% chance of survival.
We were told we’re going to analyze your baby after, those nine months and finally the end of the worst.
He was transferred to St. Michael’s Hospital in Bristol and was only allowed home after four-and-a-half weeks. George is now going for regular check-ups, but mum and dad say all the signs are good.
Well, he’s had an MRI scan, they said there is nothing major abnormal showing up on the scan. So, again, it might just be that he is a little bit slow with his learning and things like that, so, hopefully it’s just minor little things.
Doctors are still trying to find out why George was so big, it doesn’t seem to run in the family. His mum weighed just over six pounds when she was born and his dad was a little over nine.
Well, my mum was there at the birth as well, and she was, she was quite scared and shocked as well after seeing everything that happened, but again everyone was so shocked that he was so big.
Only one baby born naturally in the UK has been bigger than George, and he was only an ounce heavier.
Dozens of tiny unused baby clothes have now been packed away, although, mum says, she’s been put off having anymore babies for a while. She is just happy to have her hands full with this one.
He is a little miracle, well, a big miracle, really, yeah.
Rachael Canter, BBC Points West in Cheltenham.
Key:
1F 2T 3F 4F 5F 6T 7F
