Data
The language of midwifery and perinatal care: a quantitative analysis
2010 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 74-83
Details
2010 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 74-83
Purpose
No quantitative information exists concerning the language of midwifery and perinatal care. To characterize the language learning burden placed on someone entering this area of health care, especially someone whose first language is not English, a study was undertaken of the lexical and syntactical features of a corpus of the literature of midwifery and perinatal care.
Methods
A corpus was created consisting of articles from 5 leading journals dealing with midwifery and perinatal care published from January to December in 2005. Keywords were identified by comparison with a corpus of general English and a corpus of the public health literature. Additionally, commonly recurring phrases were identified, and measures of readability were calculated.
Results
It was possible to identify 3,590 key words, including 242 highly prevalent core terms, and several phrases which have particular importance within the domain of midwifery and perinatal care. The vocabulary and phraseology suggest that the literature focuses on the interaction of mother, child and care-giver, processes related to birth and the importance of holistic care. Anatomical and pathological terms are uncommon. On average, the readability of the literature was appropriate for English speaking college graduates, with an average Flesch Reading Ease of 30.7.
Conclusions
Using statistical methods, it was possible to identify a core vocabulary which had particular importance to and was highly prevalent in the literature of midwifery and perinatal care. The language of midwifery and perinatal care is distinct from general English, and more closely related to the language of public health. It is important to note that the language of midwifery and perinatal is relatively accessible if approached in a targeted fashion. It would appear that a high level of fluency in the literature of midwifery and perinatal care is achievable independent of high fluency in general English. However, this hypothesis remains to be tested with language learners.
