VOA常速英语2019--产妇应定期看医生

When a woman has good prenatal care, the nine months she’s pregnant are filled with doctor’s visits focused on her health and the baby’s. But what about the three months after she gives birth? Rachel Cobb says she was overwhelmed. People have been doing this forever, and it’s this shared experience that everyone has. Yet I feel so lonely and I don’t know how to ask for help. This period is known as the fourth trimester. The fourth trimester can/is overwhelming, and I don’t think anyone can be fully¹ prepared for it. A survey by Orlando Health finds more than a quarter of women did not plan for their own health management following delivery. It’s very important for new moms to follow up with their midwives or their physicians ideally sooner rather than later. 40 percent felt overwhelmed or depressed². You immediately feel like I’m a bad mom because I feel this way, and you’re not.

女性得到优质产前护理的样子，应该是怀胎9个月的时间里，医生常来探望，关注母子的健康。但产后的3个月是怎样的呢？雷切尔表示，生孩子让自己手足无措。繁衍后代是人类诞生以来就在做的事情，这种共享的经验是每个人都有的。但我却感到如此孤独，也不知道如何寻求帮助。这段时期就是众所周知的第四个阶段。第四个阶段确实让人不知所措，我认为没有任何人可以对这个阶段做好百分百的准备。奥兰多医院的一项研究发现，有1/4以上的产妇在生育之后没有为自己的健康管理作出规划。很重要的一点是：新上任的宝妈们要听从助产士或内科医生的建议，宜早不宜晚。40%的产妇感觉不知所措或者十分压抑。我很快就感觉自己是个不称职的妈妈因为我会这样感觉，但其他人不会。

For poor women, it’s far worse. Another study shows that African American or Hispanic mothers struggle more than white middle-class women. These mothers having low incomes find they’re unable to pay the high costs associated with maintaining a healthy diet, or getting regular exercise, or simply finding time to take care of themselves. He found that these women feel uncomfortable talking to caregivers with different racial or ethnic³ backgrounds. Some of the mothers I’ve interviewed indicated that they were very worried that if they hold an agency staff person, that they were having troubles keeping up with their baby’s service needs, that the staff never may call an agency that might come to take the baby away from the mother. Yet it’s critical that all women see a doctor during the fourth trimester. A lot of it is just reassurance⁴, but some of it needs to be treated. Professor Keith says health policies need to change so all mothers can have their health needs met.

对于家境贫穷的产妇来说，情况更加糟糕。另一项研究表明，非裔美籍或者西班牙裔的产妇比中产阶级的白人产妇更加痛苦。这些宝妈们的工资很低，她们无法为了维持健康的食谱或者进行常规锻炼而支付高昂的成本，甚至都没有时间保养自己。他发现，这些产妇在跟不同种族或伦理背景的家庭护理人员聊天时会感觉不自在。其中一些我采访过的产妇表示，她们担心如果请看护人员的话，宝宝的服务需求就很难得到满足了，看护人员就有可能个机构打电话，让他们把孩子从她身边带走。但很重要的是：所有女性在第四个阶段都应该看看医生。其中很多情况可能只是为了安心，但有一些产妇确实需要治疗。基思教授表示，健康政策需要改变，这样所有宝妈才能满足自己的健康需求。

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。