Euphemisms and pregnancy

People are very polite about pregnancy here and the subject would certainly never be discussed with men present. However, a lot of the women I see in the clinic are either pregnant or wanting to be, so I’m rapidly the myriad number of ways to tell someone you’re expecting a baby in urdu.

Hamla is the adjective that means you’re pregnant, (this is the same word used for attack!).

Kuch hai literally means "is there anything" but shouldn't be used unless you do want to ask someone if they're pregnant.

Bacha pate mey is a bit rough and ready and literally means “baby stomach in”.

Bimar is the word for being ill, but also colloquially used for having a baby (or incidentally, your monthly period). As you can imagine, there is considerable potential for confusion.

Bacha honevala hai which seems to be less commonly used but I think would literally translate as “baby to be coming is”.

And finally, umeed se hai, which means that “there is hope”, perhaps the nicest I think.