“could I have a word with you” is a polite and indirect way to express to that person that you want to talk to him/her privately, away from the other people.

Answer from a movie: as mane as you wish

Hugo seems happy, or at least as happy as he's capable of being

Chafing - раздражение (кожное), опрелость

Agonizing - агония; мучительный

Gritty- суровый

Stutter - заикаться, заикание, заика

Drowsy- сонливый, вялый

A midwife - акушерка

A labour ward is a specialized hospital unit designed for the care, monitoring, and delivery of pregnant women

This is the standard dinner-party question.

The more practical follow-up question [ that no one thinks to ask] is...

The thing about the switch from [doing smth] to [doing smth else] is that ...

To have a backstory

It's good to know what people think of me ...

Underfunding

To respect the privacy of those friends and colleagues who might not wish to be recognised, I have altered various personal details.

To maintain someone confidentiality, I have changed...information that might identify any individuals,

altered dates' and

anonymized names.

...you inadvertently (случайно, ненароком) witness a mass debeaking

Ultimately, no one knows what they'll fancy for dinner in sixty dinners ' time

Reasons are ludicrous |ˈluːdɪkrəs| (смехотворный, нелепый)

To be able to make decisions under a terrifying amount of pressure

anguished
/'æŋɡwɪʃt/

Мучительный, удрученный, страдающий