Promoting Pelvic Health

During face to face engagement we asked for people's understanding of fourteen different words and heard feedback from 57 people.

Read the full report here: Pelvic Health Terminology Report

During engagement, we found that some words, such as urine, bladder and uterus, were well recognised, others such as perineum and anal sphincter, were not. Whilst those with English as a first language were more likely to correctly identify the terms, there was still evidence of misunderstandings and a lack of knowledge. Several people commented on the positive learning that had come from the conversations as they better understood the meaning of terms and felt this would benefit any future pelvic health conversations.

“I had confusion between the meaning of vulva and vagina. It has been good to learn what they mean.” 

“I know some of these words in my own language but not in English. When you go to hospital is it difficult to describe when I don't know words for some of the body parts. I don't always want to have to use an interpreter. It is good to learn.”

Response from the Perinatal Pelvic Health Service:

Thank you for supporting our work to explore the accessibility of pelvic health medical terminology. Your input is helping us develop an information resource that is inclusive and understandable for all women and birthing people.

Your findings will directly inform the language used on our new perinatal pelvic health website, ensuring that medical terminology is accompanied by clear, accessible explanations. This is essential for promoting understanding, enabling earlier identification of pelvic health concerns, and supporting prevention during the perinatal period.

Importantly, your work has highlighted the need to provide clear explanations of terminology, anatomy, and function—supported by visual aids—regardless of whether readers believe they are familiar with the terms. We also recognise the additional challenges faced by those for whom English is a second language and have therefore integrated Google’s accessibility features into the website to support translation and comprehension." 

^{Perinatal Pelvic Health Service | South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust}