Advice

Pregnancy is a weird and wonderful thing. Find out how it feels to be pregnant here, plus info on what's going on inside your body, how the baby comes out, and getting up the duff in the first place...

What is it?

Bun in the oven, childbirth, expecting, having a baby, preggers, in the family way, in the club, sexual reproduction, up the duff.

What is it?

When a baby is developing inside a woman's body, she's pregnant.

How does a woman get pregnant?

• Every month women release an egg. It is microscopic and made up of a single cell, (with no shell.) Girls have two ovaries and they usually take it in turns to release an egg. This egg release is called ovulation.
• When a man ejaculates he releases millions of sperm each time. If he's had sexual intercourse, these may be released into a woman's vagina. They then start to swim up into her womb.
• It takes a single sperm to reach the egg and fuse with it. This is called fertilisation. The fertilised egg tumbles on into the womb where it attaches itself to the lining. All the time it is dividing and growing and becoming a baby! Magic.

If the egg isn't fertilised the woman will have a period. Missing a period is often the first sign a woman is pregnant.

What happens after the egg is fertilised?

Once safely embedded in the woman's womb, the fertilised egg gradually changes into a baby. It takes about nine months till the baby is ready to be born.

After the first few months a woman's belly starts to swell. Meanwhile her breasts will also get bigger, preparing to produce milk for when the baby is born.

Before any of this happens, many women feel tired, bloated and get sore breasts. This feels a bit like many of us do in the week before our period - but worse. Some women feel sick, though the morning head-down-the-toilet-pan routine is unusual.

How does it feel to be pregnant?

Most women who plan to have a baby are excited and nervous about becoming a mum. It's normal to fee a bit frightened and apprehensive as well, after all, giving birth is a big deal.

How does the baby get out?

• When the baby is ready to be born it is squeezed out by the womb. There's more in the Labour factfile.