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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Brighton NHS trust recommends drug-induced male breastfeeding in their maternity protocols

205 replies

zibzibara · 20/05/2023 08:58

https://www.bsuh.nhs.uk/maternity/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/01/MP005-Perinatal-Care-for-Trans-and-Non-Binary-People.pdf

This is part of their maternity protocols for perinatal care. In the Infant feeding section:

"5.5.7 Non-gestational parents may wish to participate in feeding their
infants using their own bodies. Cis women who have previously breastfed may have the most success in relactating. Trans women and cis women who have not been pregnant may also be able to induce lactation to some extent. Methods for inducing lactation include using galactagoues and physical stimulation. Alternatively, some families choose to use supplemental nursing systems with expressed milk or formula."

They cite this website in the reference list: http://www.milkjunkies.net/2013/05/trans-women-and-breastfeeding-personal.html

Notably they do not cite any source which has tested the composition of any such male secretions for safety and nutritional value.

https://www.bsuh.nhs.uk/maternity/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/01/MP005-Perinatal-Care-for-Trans-and-Non-Binary-People.pdf

OP posts:
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WarriorN · 21/05/2023 06:51

Yes it's magical Lemon.

A lact consultant I know said to me they think mammary glands developed from the immune system hence why it's so linked to antibodies and supply responses to need.

Male and female immune systems do appear to be slightly different- based on responses to viruses etc. and autoimmune diseases.

Anyway, my F word appears to have survived the night.

crew2022 · 21/05/2023 06:13

NotBuyingThis · 20/05/2023 22:38

My own trust narrowly missed accreditation status. 😭😉😂
But now they know what is expected, they are working to improve policies and practice for when they reapply next year.
I am watching those maternity policies like a hawk.
So far I have largely kept my terfy tendencies under wraps for obvious reasons.
But if they start including policies to help men breastfeed babies I may have to face up to a bankrupt future because I will not be able to contain myself on this. It really is a line in the sand.
Abuse of infants.
And I would also say abuse of newly delivered women, who should be assisted to establish breastfeeding (if they want to breastfeed), bond with their baby, respecting the infant/mother dyad. Let's not forget that breastfeeding has very important health benefits for the mother - release of oxytocin which gives a feel good boost, aids bonding with the baby, stimulates lactation, helps the uterus contract, reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

No man should be coming between a newly delivered woman and her baby and no health "professional" should be facilitating this.
I suggest that most of these women handing their babies over to men so that they can try to force a starving screaming infant to suckle on their hairy nipple are likely victims of a coercive relationship even if they do not recognise this at that point in time.

We need more people like you getting policies and procedures.

Apollo441 · 21/05/2023 02:30

Sorry but this MUST be stopped. The guidance must be withdrawn until research is carried out. I can only guess what this will reveal about the toxic swill that are male secretions but I'm damned sure it won't be anything that you ever want to put in an infant. How the f#ck did risking the health of an infant to prioritise a fetish come about. Anyone involved in that guidance should be sacked.

SammyScrounge · 21/05/2023 02:18

turbonerd · 20/05/2023 09:20

But the «milk» produced by a TW is like fucking Toxic Waste (not my fault the acronyms are the same here!).

Like others have pointed out: the flak a woman gets for taking paracetamol or a thimbleful of cider whilst breastfeeding out of concern for the baby.
All of a sudden that concern is just violently flung to the wind so that a man can … jesus.

I got the rage just now.

How little TWs care for babies if they fool around feeding them potentially dangerous milk. They must be the most selfish people on the planet!
But this is what comes of indulging their delusions. They are not women, not mothers,.and not able to produce wholesome milk.

LemonSwan · 20/05/2023 23:27

I stopped bf about 6 months ago so will be honest I have forgotten a lot of the details. But I do remember so many times I was just in awe of the female body and breast milk; and stunned simultaneously by how little they know, but also not that surprised as it’s a perfect hour by hour custom drink and therefore impossible in a way to truly know 100% about.

That our bodies can tell when babe is ill and produce appropriate antibodies, even from skin to skin and pumping. Not just lips to nipple.

That our milk automatically thins when it’s hot and babe needs more water.

The milk flux from sleep hormones and wake hormones for babe.

It’s honestly incredible! Women are machines. My male partner can barely make it to lunch without having a hanger breakdown and I could happily sustain me and my growing babe without drama. It’s pretty impressive stuff. Do I think men could do it. Instinct is telling me absolutely not. And that’s not even from an ethical or output stand point. It’s that from my experience men’s bodies are far too fragile on a calorie in calorie out day to day function level.

collateral · 20/05/2023 23:20

"What other reason can there be for the wholesale takeover of so many previously women dominated birth, breastfeeding and women’s health organizations around the world? Why else would what was previously considered to be “women’s business”, now be the domain of men pretending to be women?" (100) Private Spaces - by Lucy Leader - Bodies get in the way... (substack.com)

Private Spaces

Men are not women

https://lucyleader.substack.com/p/private-spaces

SunnyEgg · 20/05/2023 23:18

This and the other story on here are so depressing and wrong

SinnerBoy · 20/05/2023 22:57

KalimbaMoon

By all means, be trans and be happy. But understand that you cannot do all the things a biological woman can do. I actually think it’s sick to try.

I think it's sick and against all medical ethics to be doing this.

What do these people do, parade the baby round friends and family, saying, "This is my new fantasy validating living puppet?"

I don't think I've any opinions which haven't already been expressed here. Common sense is a much abused term these days, but FFS! Have these ideologies got no bloody common sense?

Notsuchacleverclogs · 20/05/2023 22:55

zibzibara · 20/05/2023 13:58

Potentially worse still, this protocol may be being used more widely in the NHS than just Brighton.

York and Scarborough Trust reference it in their Board of Directors Meeting minutes from April 2023: https://www.yorkhospitals.nhs.uk/seecmsfile/?id=7152

"The Perinatal care for trans and non-binary people maternity guideline has been adapted with permissions from Brighton and East Sussex for use within the LMNS by the Transformation Lead Midwife and Equity and Equality lead at the LMNS and is currently being reviewed within the governance process. Work is ongoing to co-produce a patient information leaflet and embed the new guideline across the LMNS."
(Section 6, page 138)

Though it doesn't give any more details than that, so it's unclear if they're adopting the guidelines on feeding infants with male nipple discharge.

Having had several relatives suffer horrendously (including one who died and one who almost died) as a result of the awful care in York Hospital, it sadly does not surprise me that they are wasting their time on this shit rather than actually trying to improve the care and medical service they offer to their patients.

NotBuyingThis · 20/05/2023 22:50

zibzibara · 20/05/2023 13:58

Potentially worse still, this protocol may be being used more widely in the NHS than just Brighton.

York and Scarborough Trust reference it in their Board of Directors Meeting minutes from April 2023: https://www.yorkhospitals.nhs.uk/seecmsfile/?id=7152

"The Perinatal care for trans and non-binary people maternity guideline has been adapted with permissions from Brighton and East Sussex for use within the LMNS by the Transformation Lead Midwife and Equity and Equality lead at the LMNS and is currently being reviewed within the governance process. Work is ongoing to co-produce a patient information leaflet and embed the new guideline across the LMNS."
(Section 6, page 138)

Though it doesn't give any more details than that, so it's unclear if they're adopting the guidelines on feeding infants with male nipple discharge.

Are these meeting reports available on trust websites or were they released as a result of FOI do you know @zibzibara ?

FrancescaContini · 20/05/2023 22:38

NHS Rainbow badge scheme? What are they - Cubs and Brownies? Why don’t they just focus on looking after people who need medical care instead of collecting bloody badges?

NotBuyingThis · 20/05/2023 22:38

My own trust narrowly missed accreditation status. 😭😉😂
But now they know what is expected, they are working to improve policies and practice for when they reapply next year.
I am watching those maternity policies like a hawk.
So far I have largely kept my terfy tendencies under wraps for obvious reasons.
But if they start including policies to help men breastfeed babies I may have to face up to a bankrupt future because I will not be able to contain myself on this. It really is a line in the sand.
Abuse of infants.
And I would also say abuse of newly delivered women, who should be assisted to establish breastfeeding (if they want to breastfeed), bond with their baby, respecting the infant/mother dyad. Let's not forget that breastfeeding has very important health benefits for the mother - release of oxytocin which gives a feel good boost, aids bonding with the baby, stimulates lactation, helps the uterus contract, reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

No man should be coming between a newly delivered woman and her baby and no health "professional" should be facilitating this.
I suggest that most of these women handing their babies over to men so that they can try to force a starving screaming infant to suckle on their hairy nipple are likely victims of a coercive relationship even if they do not recognise this at that point in time.

Fairislefandango · 20/05/2023 22:27

Ffs Hmm
But it is Brighton, so I'm not altogether surprised tbh.

NotBuyingThis · 20/05/2023 22:27

Many of the trusts listed have been asked to supply details relating to their Rainbow Badge Accreditation. Search on WhatDoTheyKnow.com for Rainbow Badge Accreditation.
Some have given more helpful answers than others. In some of the hospital policies supplied you can find it all. Annexe B. Restraint policies. Staff changing rooms. Help for "non-carrying parent to chest/breast feed".

This trust helpfully linked the induction pack that the Rainbow Badge scheme supplies to trusts listing the various policies and practices on which they will be judged.

(Anyone know what "conception at home attempts for same gender couples who require fertility treatment" might involve? 🤔🤷‍♀️

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/870748/response/2080857/attach/5/Induction%20pack.docx?cookie_passthrough=1

Brighton NHS trust recommends drug-induced male breastfeeding in their maternity protocols
Brighton NHS trust recommends drug-induced male breastfeeding in their maternity protocols
Brighton NHS trust recommends drug-induced male breastfeeding in their maternity protocols
NotBuyingThis · 20/05/2023 22:14

Namechange for...reasons.

The answer to all this lies in the NHS Rainbow badge scheme, which is, of course, the spawn of Stonewall.
The project is run by a consortium of the usual suspects.

The Rainbow badge accreditation is equivalent to the various Stonewall accreditation schemes.

NHS England replied to various FOIs, revealing for instance that the cost in 2021/2022 was £220,000 and listing the 40 trusts involved in the scheme. They also subsequently listed the 10 trusts involved in the pilot scheme.

In order to achieve rainbow badge accreditation trusts have to jump through hoops, supply policies and protocols for inspection and make sure that those policies centre the most vulnerable group.

Check out the FOI to see if your local trust is on the list.
There are likely new trusts vying for accreditation this year, not listed on the FOI.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/costoffthenhssrainbowbadgee_pr#incoming-2103218

Brighton NHS trust recommends drug-induced male breastfeeding in their maternity protocols
Brighton NHS trust recommends drug-induced male breastfeeding in their maternity protocols
Brighton NHS trust recommends drug-induced male breastfeeding in their maternity protocols
turbonerd · 20/05/2023 21:15

JellySaurus · 20/05/2023 16:48

Not just that, but lactating mothers struggling with their supply are slammed for taking galactogenic supplements (such as fenugreek) or medications (such as domperidone, which is given to babies for reflux) to boost their supply.

Who knew it was so simple - just be a man, with a male endocrine system damaged by anti-androgenic drugs and cross-sex hormones. Because then taking galactogenic drugs will be fine for the baby.

The whole thing us idiotic.
And dangerous for the baby.

That midwives can go along with this, that thus NHS trust can spend even a penny on this shit should be punishable by - much and a lot.

nilsmousehammer · 20/05/2023 20:55

nepeta · 20/05/2023 20:07

This is strikingly obvious sexism, similar to the way only the female sex is erased while the male sex is barely beginning to be inconvenienced.

Women are given a long list of things they should not eat or drink when pregnant or breastfeeding, and in some cases the recommendations honestly admit that they are being overly cautious just to make certain that nothing harmful enters the infant's body.

So leaving aside the medical cocktails that men must take to induce lactation and its possible interactions with other medications transwomen might be taking, are they also told not to have any coffee, tuna, alcohol, etc. etc.?

It's been so odd to see, in real life, the privileging of male people over female people when it comes to this wider issue of transgender activism. It smells of men's rights activism.

And the sex based, binary sexism places not only the female but the child of either sex below the wishes of a man.

Yes. It smells to high heaven.

ArabeIIaScott · 20/05/2023 20:42

It reeks.

nepeta · 20/05/2023 20:07

Whatwouldscullydo · 20/05/2023 09:02

So women have everything they put into their bodies throughout pregnancy and breast feeding scrutinised and we are lucky if we get given anything more than a paracetamol to deal with pain. Yet this is ok? Wtf

This is strikingly obvious sexism, similar to the way only the female sex is erased while the male sex is barely beginning to be inconvenienced.

Women are given a long list of things they should not eat or drink when pregnant or breastfeeding, and in some cases the recommendations honestly admit that they are being overly cautious just to make certain that nothing harmful enters the infant's body.

So leaving aside the medical cocktails that men must take to induce lactation and its possible interactions with other medications transwomen might be taking, are they also told not to have any coffee, tuna, alcohol, etc. etc.?

It's been so odd to see, in real life, the privileging of male people over female people when it comes to this wider issue of transgender activism. It smells of men's rights activism.

MrsOvertonsWindow · 20/05/2023 19:43

"The thing which hits me hard here is the utter and complete undermining of the mother and of the mother-baby relationship".

Undermining parent child bonds / relationships runs through this ideology like a stick of rock. Explaining why would get the post deleted but there's plenty of objective evidence about the type of people who thrive when the parent child bond is broken. To do this to mothers and babies is unforgivable.

PomegranateOfPersephone · 20/05/2023 19:30

JellySaurus · 20/05/2023 14:03

Have you read the article I linked?

'A day and a half after she came home, Sandi was still trying to breastfeed. A lot of it was left to me going through my stored supply and whatever I was expressing.'
While at home Ms Honnery-Buckley suffered severe abdominal pain and an elevated heart rate. An ambulance took her to hospital and it was discovered she had retained placenta products, which meant she was not producing milk.
'Apart from the milk he was getting from me he was essentially starving,' Ms Buckley said of the couple's hungry son.
'I genuinely believe had I not brought my breast milk into the hospital he could have become very sick with liver and kidney issues from lack of nutrition.'

The thing which hits me hard here is the utter and complete undermining of the mother and of the mother-baby relationship. Where is the support and reassurance for her? The dad has set himself up in competition with her and is claiming to have been the one who kept their son alive in her place. A mother needs to be supported to grow in confidence in her role, her partner should be supporting and nurturing the mother-baby dyad not coming in between them!

Not to mention of course the fantasy of “my stored supply and whatever I was expressing”. Completely delusional. A mother with a retained placenta will usually still have considerably greater volume of colostrum than the volume of whatever substance a man is going to produce from his nipples through use of pharmaceuticals. Her mature milk coming in will likely be delayed, in all likelihood she will still have colostrum. And obviously the hospital was not going to let this baby starve, or get malnourished, or get kidney or liver problems, obviously, screened donor milk or formula would have been given to this baby. And Sandi would have been taken to theatre ASAP to get the retained placenta removed.

JellySaurus · 20/05/2023 19:11

WarriorN · 20/05/2023 17:57

Testing testing...

Fetish.

Fetish-shaming. How very dare you!

ArabeIIaScott · 20/05/2023 18:55

Mothers produce milk specifically dependant on the sex of their baby.

'Evidence to date suggests that infants of different sex may have different nutritional and hormonal requirements. This underpins a need for sex-specific nutritional strategies for male and female infants, in order to optimise their growth and development. Experimental and limited clinical observations that maternal HM composition changes dependent on male or female sex, support this hypothesis'

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165076/

Sex-Specific Human Milk Composition: The Role of Infant Sex in Determining Early Life Nutrition

Male and female infants respond differentially to environmental stimuli, with different growth and neurodevelopmental trajectories. Male infants are more likely to be disadvantaged when subjected to adversity and show a higher risk of perinatal complic...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6165076

StopStartStop · 20/05/2023 18:46

YouJustDoYou · 20/05/2023 09:07

Jesus fucking CHRIST, Brighton!!! They're vile there in the NHS, using babies to satisfy male kinks, that's honestly horrific.

This.

ChateauMargaux · 20/05/2023 18:40

Selected quotes from
https://gpifn.org.uk/galactagogues/ (don't get me started on why the image on this page is of a man.. skin to skin supports the production of milk in the female body through the interaction of female hormones... )

'Considerations regarding prescribing a galactagogue therefore should include ensuring a feeding assessment and relevant non-drug measures to increase milk supply have been attempted first.. ' (em... perhaps attempting feeding by a female..)

'The maximum treatment duration should not usually exceed one week. ' (so not a medium or long term option)

'There are no drugs currently licensed in the UK as galactagogues so prescribing for this purpose is off-label.'

These measures are rarely available to women who are biologically designed to give birth and suckle their young,, who are given inadequate support and often end up giving formula because they have no other options available to them.

Galactagogues

by Dr Louise Santhanam, General Practitioner PLEASE NOTE- This information is not intended as a ‘guideline’ for the prescribing clinician, but rather as a summary of the issues with sig…

https://gpifn.org.uk/galactagogues