midwifery personal statement pdf

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Midwifery Personal Statement Examples

What is a midwifery personal statement?

Writing a personal statement for midwifery is a chance to sell yourself to the admissions tutors and show them why you would make a good midwifery candidate.

It’s a place to describe your skills and strengths, as well as your career plans.

You are allowed up to 4,000 characters to explain why you are applying for a midwifery degree, so you need to make sure your statement is well-written enough to stand out from the crowd.

How do I write a good midwifery personal statement?

A great midwifery personal statement always uses evidence to support any claims.

You need to convince admissions tutors that you’re a good match for the midwifery programme, so if you claim to be committed or inquisitive, then use examples from your life experience to back it up.

To write a successful midwifery personal statement you need to start early, brainstorm some ideas, and then begin putting together your first draft.

This will then need to be carefully revised and edited before asking family and friends for feedback. Incorporate their comments and suggestions, and see how it is improved before asking them to look at it again.

Read through our midwifery personal statement examples to give you an idea of what a good midwifery statement entails.

Make sure you proofread your statement for grammar and spelling before sending it off, and if you feel you need a little extra help, take a look at our personal statement editing services .

What should I include in my midwifery personal statement?

Many students choose to start their statement by picking a specific aspect of midwifery and explaining why they enjoy it, e.g. public health, childbirth emergencies, physiology and anatomy, etc.

Admissions tutors want candidates that are as passionate about midwifery as they are.

As well as your motivations for studying midwifery, think about your hobbies and extracurricular activities too. What skills have you learned from these and how will these help you in your midwifery degree?

Talk about any work experience placements you have completed, e.g. shadowing a midwife, nurse or other clinician. What did you take away from this experience? Do you feel you have all the necessary personal traits and qualities that make a good midwife student?

Your wider reading is also important, so it's worth mentioning anything you've read recently that you found interesting and why. Generally, admissions tutors like students who express their views and opinions, and can back them up with evidence.

For more help and advice on what to write in your midwifery personal statement, please see:

• Personal Statement Editing Services
• Personal Statement Tips From A Teacher
• Analysis Of A Personal Statement
• The 15th January UCAS Deadline: 4 Ways To Avoid Missing It
• Personal Statement FAQs

Personal Statement Timeline

• 10 Top Personal Statement Writing Tips
• What To Do If You Miss The 15th January UCAS Deadline.

What can I do with a midwifery degree?

Although many students who study midwifery at university want to become midwives, there are many other career paths you can take with your degree, including

• Ultrasound technician
• Neonatal nurse
• Health visitor
• Midwifery consultant
• Public health worker

For more information on midwifery careers, please see Prospects and the NHS Health Careers .

What are the best UK universities to study midwifery?

Currently, the 10 best universities in the UK to study midwifery at are:

For more information on UK midwifery course rankings, please see The Guardian and Nurses.co.uk .

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PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLES Midwifery personal statements

Discover personal statement examples written by students accepted onto midwifery and related courses. Read through the examples to help shape your own personal statement.

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Midwifery Personal Statements

Submitted by Amelia

Pre-Registration Midwifery Personal Statement

Something that has always enthralled me about becoming a midwife is t...

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Top tips on how to write a personal statement for midwifery.

To celebrate International Midwives Day on 5 May, current student Jess, shares some tips on how to write a personal statement if your applying for BSc (Hons) Midwifery.

Writing about yourself in general is hard enough but when you only have 4,000 characters to make a great first impression, mention all your transferable skills, talk about your experience, why you want to be a midwife and somehow make it exciting to read is one tall order!

Writing my personal statement I knew already how competitive it is when applying for a place on a midwifery programme. Limiting my chances by only applying to 2 university’s made the process even scarier! I started drafting my personal statement as early as I could, having been through the process before I had a personal statement to work from BUT i am so glad I scrapped the whole thing and started over. The best thing I did was get hold of a book for writing personal statements for midwifery. I made every mistake going when writing my personal statement at 17 and that truly was from a lack of research and understanding of the role of a midwife and not for lack of passion.

Here’s my top tips for writing a personal statement!

1) Start as early as you can! Even if you just start with a bullet pointed list of everything you want to put into your statement… it’s a start.

2) Draft, Draft and Re-Draft! Make the most of support from tutors or other professionals who offer to read your statement. It’s so important to make sure your sentence structure, spelling and grammar are up to scratch.

3) Read it out loud. It helps so much to read it through and you will pick up on so many more typing issues and mistakes by reading it out loud.

4) When you do start writing make sure you type it in a word document or keep a hard copy rather than typing straight into UCAS as this makes it easier for spell check and checking the word limit.

5) If your a few characters over make sure you check the end of your sentences and paragraphs as I didn’t realise that I always put extra spaces on the end which does take up characters and line space!

Now for midwifery specific tips!

1) Don’t talk about babies! The role of a midwife is about supporting women, and that should be the focus of your statement.

2) Research the skills and qualities of a midwife and try to talk about how you have those skills. Try to follow the format of what is the skill? show evidence of you having it ( talk about experience) and then why that skill is important in midwifery practice.

3) BUZZ WORDS! the 6 C’s of care are a great place to start and if you don’t know what they are go and read up about them! Also consider the importance of non-judgemental care especially in the context of the diversity of women and families that you may encounter through midwifery care.

4) The NMC’s code of conduct is a great resource and I would definitely make sure you’ve read it at some point before interviews.

5) Find something about midwifery that gets you excited and talk about it, get that passion across. Look up current ‘hot topics’ if your ensure.

6) Bring that reader in with that very first sentence! I would make use of your buzz words or show something about your understanding of the role of a midwife in that very first sentence!

7) Don’t worry if you can’t summarise why you want to be a midwife! Its not about the why its about how you’ve got to this point now, what have you done to prove that this is the career for you!

8) Remember your applying for a degree and not a job as a midwife just yet, so try and make some acknowledgement to being able to cope with the academic side of the course and your ability to manage your time especially as the midwifery course is 50% study and 50% placement.

9) Make sure you finish that personal statement with a really powerful ending. That will be the very last thing they read and if they haven’t made their mind up by that point that could be what sways it!

10) Make sure that it truly represents you and DON’T LIE! your personal statement will be the only thing they have about you when it comes to interview so they will talk about it with you if you can’t expand on what you’ve said or you seem to not know much about that 6 year placement you did in Antarctica setting up a midwifery unit for Eskimo’s they will realise it was probably a lie!

Just be yourself and if you haven’t got experience or struggle to get it that’s fine! So many transferable skills can come from other jobs. Retail work is about working with people, communicating with customers. Having patience when dealing with frustrated customers. Its all transferable skills so talk about it!

I hope these tips help anyone writing their statement and good luck on your journey to becoming student midwives!

Jess Correia, Midwifery student.

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BSc (Hons) Midwifery

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• Personal Statements
• Midwifery Personal Statements

Midwifery Personal Statement Example

Sample statement.

For quite a long time I have known that my future career lies within the nursing profession but was unsure of my exact direction. In the last couple of years I have spoken to several different nurses and have attended hospital open days and two work placements and I am now convinced that midwifery is for me.

I have been very impressed with the midwives that I have met and feel that the opportunity to look after women throughout their pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond into the postnatal period would be very rewarding. Being involved with women and their families at such an exciting and yet still quite stressful time of life will enable me to use my communication skills and my abilities to care for people in a calm and non-judgemental way.

Being a good midwife is about having the medical skills and knowledge to guide a woman through a healthy pregnancy and to be alert to the earliest signs that something may be wrong. Caring for diabetic women in pregnancy is a particular interest, as my older sister was diabetic and experienced various complications during her pregnancy last year. Having a calm and dependable midwife was essential to her well being throughout the pregnancy.

It is very important for midwives to be aware of the latest medical knowledge and to inform and explain things to women as clearly and sympathetically as possible so that they can be empowered to make their own informed decisions. Although it would be emotionally challenging, I would like to gain experience working with women who have given birth prematurely or who have had a baby who is born with serious health problems. I believe I have the maturity to provide the support as well as the medical care necessary.

My two work placements so far have been in the maternity unit of my local hospital and out with a community midwife. These were two very different experiences but I thoroughly enjoyed them both. During my placement in the hospital I was able to help monitor a fetal heart beat and to chat to mothers whose babies were just a day old. My days out with the community midwife showed me just how variable this work is and I was excited by the chance to see families and babies in their own homes. The midwife that I shadowed was welcomed and treated as part of the family group, which showed me just how important midwives are in the wider community.

By doing a midwifery degree I hope to become as well qualified as possible on the medical side but I realise that being a good midwife is also about gaining experience of different situations. I would welcome the opportunity to work abroad at some stage of my early career, in a developing world situation. I was lucky enough to visit Kenya last summer with a project to raise awareness of childhood vaccination and to assist the vaccination teams. I met lots of mothers and children and saw how different their situation is compared to a typical family in the UK.

I am working hard to get the grades I need for university but outside work I enjoy playing badminton and painting with watercolours. Some of my time is also devoted to my new niece who is now 6 months old and who has become a very special person on my life. Seeing her grow and develop has confirmed my wish to work with mothers and babies and I am excited to start my journey into midwifery.

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Personal statements for nursing and midwifery applicants

Introduction.

Your personal statement is an important part of your application for a pre-registration Nursing course . Here is some information about what we look for in a statement and where you can find out more.

Personal statements for nursing applicants

Finding advice on writing your statement

UCAS has a wealth of information and guidance on preparing your personal statement which you need to look at as well as this specific advice on applying for nursing courses at University of West London .

The UCAS advice covers, key points, what to include, dos and don'ts and size and presentation .

UCAS also alerts you to the use of 'similarity detection' to ensure your personal statement include:

• your personal account in approximately 600 words
• why you want to become a nurse
• why University of West London should invite you to a selection day to be considered for entry to the course.

Why your statement matters

The statement is your only chance to speak to us directly about the reasons why you have chosen your course, whether this is Adult, Child, Learning Disability or Mental Health Nursing.

You may be tempted to put all of these options down but this could be seen as you not being focussed and committed to one area of nursing.

So choose one branch of nursing and give a clear account of why you have chosen that branch.

All this will help us to decide on whether to offer you a place on a selection day.

Personal experience

It is helpful if in addition to general statements about wanting to help people if you could identify some previous personal experience that has influenced your choice.

For example you would need to say more than 'I was cared for when ill' or that you have 'worked as health care assistant'.

The account of your experience can be helpful to your application only if you can say in what ways it has influenced your choice.

Understanding care and compassion

In healthcare generally and specifically in nursing there is an emphasis on being both technically skilled, being able to do the technical and physical tasks required in providing treatment but also to show that you are able to care and be compassionate in your work with patients.

Caring and compassion are easy words to say but very hard to translate into actions that show an ability to understand and respond to the suffering experienced by people and make a difference.

This is something you may want to think carefully about and how you can convey your ability to be caring and compassionate.

Understanding the demands of your nursing course

Your personal experience also offers you the chance to establish that you understand what the demands of the course are for you in terms of theory, practical work and study, and what you will do to ensure you will be able to meet the challenge you have identified.

Writing within limits

The personal statement is an opportunity to show us how well you communicate your thoughts and ideas in writing within limits. This is a skill you will need on the programme.

The list of UCAS dos and don'ts are really helpful for this , we would encourage you to follow it so that we can see that you are able to communicate your ideas and experience.

You will help yourself by careful preparation of the personal statement, making sure it is relevant to the course you have chosen and rehearsing what you will write.

UCAS recommend you to prepare the statement offline in advance and then copy and paste your work into the application system.

This helps you to communicate with us and tell us why we should choose to interview you.

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• Published: 10 May 2024

Challenges and opportunities of English as the medium of instruction in diploma midwifery programs in Bangladesh: a mixed-methods study

• Anna Williams 1 ,
• Jennifer R. Stevens 2 ,
• Rondi Anderson 3 &
• Malin Bogren 4  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  523 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

171 Accesses

Metrics details

English is generally recognized as the international language of science and most research on evidence-based medicine is produced in English. While Bangla is the dominant language in Bangladesh, public midwifery degree programs use English as the medium of instruction (EMI). This enables faculty and student access to the latest evidence-based midwifery content, which is essential for provision of quality care later. Yet, it also poses a barrier, as limited English mastery among students and faculty limits both teaching and learning.

This mixed-methods study investigates the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation of EMI in the context of diploma midwifery education in Bangladesh. Surveys were sent to principals at 38 public midwifery education institutions, and 14 English instructors at those schools. Additionally, ten key informant interviews were held with select knowledgeable stakeholders with key themes identified.

Surveys found that English instructors are primarily guest lecturers, trained in general or business English, without a standardized curriculum or functional English language laboratories. Three themes were identified in the key informant interviews. First, in addition to students’ challenges with English, faculty mastery of English presented challenges as well. Second, language labs were poorly maintained, often non-functional, and lacked faculty. Third, an alternative education model, such as the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curriculum,  has potential to strengthen English competencies within midwifery schools.

Conclusions

ESP, which teaches English for application in a specific discipline, is one option available in Bangladesh for midwifery education. Native language instruction and the middle ground of multilingualism are also useful options. Although a major undertaking, investing in an ESP model and translation of technical midwifery content into relevant mother tongues may provide faster and more complete learning. In addition, a tiered system of requirements for English competencies tied to higher levels of midwifery education could build bridges to students to help them access global evidence-based care resources. Higher levels might emphasize English more heavily, while the diploma level would follow a multilingualism approach, teach using an ESP curriculum, and have complementary emphasis on the mother tongue.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

As the international language of science, English holds an important position in the education of healthcare professionals. Globally, most scientific papers are published in English. In many non-native English-speaking countries, English is used as the language of instruction in higher education [ 1 ]. The dominant status held by the English language in the sciences is largely considered to increase global access to scientific information by unifying the scientific community under a single lingua franca [ 2 ].

In Bangladesh, where the mother tongue is Bangla and midwifery diploma programs are taught in English, knowledge of English facilitates student and instructor access to global, continuously updated evidence-based practice guidance. This includes basic and scientific texts, media-based instructional materials (including on life-saving skills), professional journals, and proceedings of medical conferences. Many of these resources are available for free online, which can be particularly useful in healthcare settings that have not integrated evidence-based practice.

In addition to opportunity though, English instruction also creates several challenges. Weak student and faculty English competency may impede midwifery education quality in Bangladesh. Globally, literature has linked limited instructor competency in the language of instruction with reduced depth, nuance, and accuracy in conveying subject matter content [ 3 ]. This can lead to the perpetuation of patterns of care in misalignment with global evidence. In addition, students’ native language proficiency in their topic of study can decline when instruction is in English, limiting native language communication between colleagues on the job later on [ 4 , 5 ].

In this paper, we examine the current status of English language instruction within public diploma midwifery programs in Bangladesh. Midwifery students are not required to demonstrate a certain skill level in English to enter the program. However, they are provided with English classes in the program. Midwifery course materials are in English, while—for ease and practicality—teaching aids and verbal classroom instruction are provided in Bangla. Following graduation, midwifery students must pass a national licensing exam given in English to practice. Upon passing, some new midwives are deployed as public employees and are posted to sub-district health facilities where English is not used by either providers or clients. Others will seek employment as part of non-governmental organization (NGO) projects where English competency can be of value for interacting with global communities, and for participating in NGO-specific on-the-job learning opportunities. The mix of both challenge and opportunity in this context is complex.

Our analysis examines the reasons for the identified English competency gaps within midwifery programs, and potential solutions. We synthesize the findings and discuss solutions in the context of the global literature. Finally, we present a set of viable options for strengthening English competencies among midwifery faculty and students to enable better quality teaching and greater learning comprehension among students.

Study design

We employed a mixed-methods study design [ 6 ] in order to assess the quality of English instruction within education programs, and options for its improvement. Data collection consisted of two surveys of education institutes, a web-search of available English programs in Bangladesh, and key informant interviews. Both surveys followed a structured questionnaire with a combination of open- and closed-ended questions and were designed by the authors. One survey targeted the 38 institute principals and the other targeted 14 of the institutes’ 38 English instructors (those for whom contact information was shared). The web-search focused on generating a list of available English programs in Bangladesh that had viable models that could be tapped into to strengthen English competencies among midwifery faculty and students. Key informant interviews were unstructured and intended to substantiate and deepen understanding of the survey and web-search findings.

No minimum requirements exist for students’ English competencies upon entry into midwifery diploma programs. Students enter directly from higher secondary school (12th standard) and complete the midwifery program over a period of three years. Most students come from modest economic backgrounds having completed their primary and secondary education in Bangla. While English instruction is part of students’ secondary education, skill attainment is low, and assessment standards are not in place to ensure student mastery. To join the program, midwifery students are required to pass a multi-subject entrance exam that includes a component on English competency. However, as no minimum English standard must be met, the exam does not screen out potential midwifery students. Scoring, for instance, is not broken down by subject. This makes it possible to answer zero questions correctly in up to three of the subjects, including English, and pass the exam.

Processes/data collection

Prior to the first survey, principals were contacted by UNFPA with information about the survey and all provided verbal consent to participate. The survey of principals collected general information about the resources available for English instruction at the institutes. It was a nine-item questionnaire with a mix of Yes/No, multiple choice and write-in questions. Specific measures of interest were whether and how many English instructors the institutes had, instructors’ hiring criteria, whether institutes had language labs and if they were in use, and principals’ views on the need for English courses and their ideal mode of delivery (e.g., in-person, online, or a combination). This survey also gathered contact information of institute English instructors. These measures were chosen as they were intended to provide a high-level picture of institutes’ English resources such as faculty availability and qualifications, and use of language labs. To ensure questions were appropriately framed, a pilot test was conducted with two institute principals and small adjustments were subsequently made. Responses were shared via an electronic form sent by email and were used to inform the second survey as well as the key informant interviews. Of the 38 principals, 36 completed the survey.

The second survey, targeting English instructors, gathered information on instructors’ type of employment (e.g., institute faculty or adjunct lecturers); length of employment; student academic focus (e.g., midwifery or nursing); hours of English instruction provided as part of the midwifery diploma program; whether a standard English curriculum was used and if it was tailored toward the healthcare profession; use of digital content in teaching; education and experience in English teaching; and their views on student barriers to learning English. These measures were chosen to provide a basic criterion for assessing quality of English instruction, materials and resources available to students. For instance, instructors’ status as faculty would indicate a stronger degree of integration and belonging to the institute midwifery program than a guest lecturer status which allows for part time instruction with little job security. In addition, use of a standard, professionally developed English curriculum and integration of digital content into classroom learning would be indicative of higher quality than learning materials developed informally by instructors themselves without use of listening content by native speakers in classrooms. The survey was piloted with two English instructors. Based on their feedback, minor adjustments were made to one question, and it was determined that responses were best gathered by phone due to instructors’ limited internet access. Of the 14 instructors contacted, 11 were reached and provided survey responses by phone.

The web-search gathered information on available English language instruction programs for adults in Bangladesh, and the viability of tapping into any of them to improve English competency among midwifery students and faculty. Keywords Bangladesh  +  English courses , English training , English classes , study English and learn English were typed into Google’s search platform. Eleven English language instruction programs were identified. Following this, each program was contacted either by phone or email and further detail about the program’s offerings was collected.

Unstructured key informant interviews were carried out with select knowledgeable individuals to substantiate and enhance the credibility of the survey and web-search findings. Three in-country expert English language instructors and four managers of English language teaching programs were interviewed. In addition, interviews were held with three national-level stakeholders knowledgeable about work to make functional technologically advanced English language laboratories that had been installed at many of the training institutes. Question prompts included queries such as, ‘In your experience, what are the major barriers to Bangla-medium educated students studying in English at the university level?’, ‘What effective methods or curricula are you aware of for improving student English to an appropriate competency level for successful learning in English?’, and, ‘What options do you see for the language lab/s being used, either in their originally intended capacity or otherwise?’

Data analysis

All data were analyzed by the lead researcher. Survey data were entered into a master Excel file and grouped descriptively to highlight trends and outliers, and ultimately enable a clear description of the structure and basic quality attributes (e.g., instructors’ education, hours of English instruction, and curriculum development resources used). Web-search findings were compiled in a second Excel file with columns distinguishing whether they taught general English (often aimed at preparing students for international standard exams), Business English, or English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This enabled separation of standalone English courses taught by individual instructors as part of vocational or academic programs of study in other fields, and programs with an exclusive focus on English language acquisition. Key informant interviews were summarized in a standard notes format using Word. An inductive process of content analysis was carried out, in which content categories were identified and structured to create coherent meaning [ 7 ]. From this, the key overall findings and larger themes that grew from the initial survey and web-search results were drawn out.

The surveys (Tables  1 and 2 ) found that English instructors are primarily long-term male guest lecturers employed at each institute for more than two years. All principal respondents indicated that there is a need for English instruction—18 of the 19 reported that this is best done through a combination of in-person and computer-based instruction. Ten institutes reported that they have an English language lab, but none were used as such. The other institutes did not have language labs. The reported reasons for the labs not being in use were a lack of trained staff to operate them and some components of the technology not being installed or working properly. The findings from the instructors’ survey indicated that English instructors typically develop their own learning materials and teach general English without tailoring content to healthcare contexts. Only two mentioned using a standard textbook to guide their instruction and one described consulting a range of English textbooks to develop learning content. None reported using online or other digital tools for language instruction in their classrooms. Most instructors had an advanced degree (i.e., master’s degree) in English, and seven had received training in teaching English. Interviews with instructors also revealed that they themselves did not have mastery of English, as communication barriers in speaking over the phone appeared consistently across 10 of the 11 instructor respondents.

The web-search and related follow up interviews found that most English instruction programs (10 out of the 11) were designed for teaching general English and/or business English. The majority were offered through private entities aiming to reach individuals intending to study abroad, access employment that required English, or improve their ability to navigate business endeavors in English. One program, developed by the British Council, had flexibility to tailor its structure and some of its content to the needs of midwifery students. However, this was limited in that a significant portion of the content that would be used was developed for global audiences and thus not tailored to a Bangladeshi audience or to any specific discipline. One of the university English programs offered a promising ESP model tailored to midwifery students. It was designed by BRAC University’s Institute of Language for the university’s private midwifery training program.

Three themes emerged from the other key informant interviews (Table  3 ). The first was that, in addition to students’ challenges with English, faculty mastery of English presented challenges as well. Of the 34 faculty members intending to participate in the 2019–2020 cohort for the Dalarna master’s degree, half did not pass the prerequisite English exam. Ultimately, simultaneous English-Bangla translation was necessary for close to half of the faculty to enable their participation in the master’s program. English language limitations also precluded one faculty member from participating in an international PhD program in midwifery.

The second theme highlighted the language labs’ lack of usability. The language labs consisted of computers, an interactive whiteboard, audio-visual equipment, and associated software to allow for individualized direct interactions between teacher and student. However, due to the lack of appropriately trained staff to manage, care for and use the language lab equipment, the investment required to make the labs functional appeared to outweigh the learning advantages doing so would provide. Interviews revealed that work was being done, supported by a donor agency, on just one language lab, to explore whether it could be made functional. The work was described as costly and challenging, and required purchasing a software license from abroad, thus likely being impractical to apply to the other labs and sustain over multiple years.

The third theme was around the ESP curriculum model. The program developers had employed evidence-informed thinking to develop the ESP learning content and consulted student midwives on their learning preferences. Due to the student input, at least 80% of the content was designed to directly relate to the practice of midwifery in Bangladesh, while the remaining 10–20% references globally relevant content. This balance was struck based on students’ expressed interest in having some exposure to English usage outside of Bangladesh for their personal interest. For conversation practice, the modules integrated realistic scenarios of midwives interacting with doctors, nurses and patients. Also built into written activities were exercises where students were prompted to describe relevant health topics they are concurrently studying in their health, science or clinical classes. Given the midwifery students’ educational backgrounds and intended placements in rural parts of Bangladesh, an ESP curriculum model appeared to be the most beneficial existing program to pursue tapping into to strengthen English competencies within midwifery programs. This was because the content would likely be more accessible to students than a general English course by having vocabulary, activities and examples directly relevant to the midwifery profession.

The study findings demonstrate key weaknesses in the current model of English instruction taught in public midwifery programs. Notably, the quantitative findings revealed that some English instructors do not have training in teaching English, and none used standard curricula or online resources to structure and enhance their classroom content. In addition, weak mastery of English among midwifery faculty was identified in the qualitative data, which calls into question faculty’s ability to fully understand and accurately convey content from English learning materials. Global literature indicates that this is not a unique situation. Many healthcare faculty and students in low-resource settings, in fact, are faced with delivering and acquiring knowledge in a language they have not sufficiently mastered [ 8 ]. As a significant barrier to knowledge and skill acquisition for evidence-based care, this requires more attention from global midwifery educators [ 9 ].

Also holding back students’ English development is the finding from both the quantitative and qualitative data that none of the high-tech language labs were being used as intended. This indicates a misalignment with the investment against the reality of the resources at the institutes to use them. While setting up the costly language labs appears to have been a large investment with little to no return, it does demonstrate that strengthening English language instruction in post-secondary public education settings is a priority that the Bangladesh government is willing to invest in. However, scaling up access to an ESP curriculum model tailored to future midwifery practitioners in Bangladesh may be a more worthwhile investment than language labs [ 10 ]. 

The ESP approach teaches English for application in a specific discipline. It does this by using vocabulary, examples, demonstrations, scenarios and practice activities that are directly related to the context and professions those studying English live and work (or are preparing to work) in. One way ESP has been described, attributed to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), is, “ESP should properly be seen not as any particular language product but as an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning” [ 11 ]. It is proposed by linguistic education researchers as a viable model for strengthening language mastery and subject matter comprehension in EMI university contexts [ 12 ].

Though it did not arise as a finding, reviewing the literature highlighted that Bangla language instruction may be an additional, potentially viable option. Linguistic research has long shown that students learn more thoroughly and efficiently in their mother tongue [ 12 ]. Another perhaps more desirable option may be multilingualism, which entails recognizing native languages as complementary in EMI classrooms, and using them through verbal instruction and supplemental course materials. Kirkpatrick, a leading scholar of EMI in Asia, suggests that multilingualism be formally integrated into EMI university settings [ 13 ]. This approach is supported by evidence showing that the amount of native language support students need for optimal learning is inversely proportional to their degree of English proficiency [ 14 ].

Ultimately, despite the language related learning limitations identified in this study, and the opportunities presented by native language and multilingualism approaches, there remains a fundamental need for members of the midwifery profession in Bangladesh to use up-to-date guidance on evidence-based midwifery care [ 11 ]. Doing that currently requires English language competence. Perhaps a tiered system of requirements for English competencies that are tied to diploma, Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD midwifery programs could build bridges for more advanced students to access global resources. Higher academic levels might emphasize English more heavily, while the diploma level could follow a multilingualism approach—teaching using an ESP curriculum and integrating Bangla strategically to support optimal knowledge acquisition for future practice in rural facilities. Ideally, scores on a standard English competency exam would be used to assess students’ language competencies prior to entrance in English-based programs and that this would require more stringent English skill development prior to entering a midwifery program.

Methodological considerations

One of the limitations of this study is that it relied on self-reports and observation, rather than tested language and subject matter competencies. Its strengths though are in the relatively large number of education institutes that participated in the study, and the breadth of knowledge about faculty and student subject matter expertise among study co-authors. It was recognized that the lead researcher might be biased toward pre-determined perceptions of English competencies being a barrier to teaching and learning held by the lead institution (UNFPA). It was also recognized that due to the inherent power imbalance between researcher and participants, the manner of gathering data and engaging with stakeholders may contribute to confirmation bias, with respondents primarily sharing what they anticipated the researcher wished to hear (e.g., that English needed strengthening and the lead agency should take action to support the strengthening). The researcher thus engaged with participants independently of UNFPA and employed reflexivity by designing and carrying out the surveys to remotely collect standard data from institutes, as well as casting a wide net across institutes to increase broad representation. In addition, while institutes were informed that the surveys were gathering information about the English instruction within the institutes, no information was shared about potential new support to institutes. Finally, the researcher validated and gathered further details on the relevant information identified in the surveys through key informant interviews, which were held with stakeholders independent of UNFPA.

Adapting and scaling up the existing ESP modules found in this study, and integrating Bangla where it can enhance subject-matter learning, may be a useful way to help midwifery students and faculty improve their knowledge, skills, and critical thinking related to the field of midwifery. Given the educational backgrounds and likely work locations of most midwives in Bangladesh and many other LMICs, practitioners may want to consider investing in more opportunities for local midwives to teach and learn in their mother tongue. This type of investment would ideally be paired with a tiered system in which more advanced English competencies are required at higher-levels of education to ensure integration of global, evidence-based approaches into local standards of care.

Declarations.

Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee

English medium instruction

English for Specific Purposes

Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

United Nations Population Fund

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Farida Begum, Rabeya Basri, and Pronita Raha for their contributions to data collection for this assessment.

This project under which this study was carried out was funded by funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.

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Authors contributions in the development of this paper were as follows: AW- Concept, acquisition, drafting, revision, analysis, interpretation. JRS- Concept, revision. RA- Concept, analysis MB- Revision, analysis, interpretationAll authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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This study was part of a larger project in Bangladesh approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) with project ID UZJ31. The MOHFW project approval allows data collection of this type, that is carried out as part of routine program monitoring and improvement, including informed verbal consent for surveys and key informant interviews.

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Williams, A., Stevens, J., Anderson, R. et al. Challenges and opportunities of English as the medium of instruction in diploma midwifery programs in Bangladesh: a mixed-methods study. BMC Med Educ 24 , 523 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05499-8

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Received : 31 July 2023

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05499-8

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