Midwives told to stop using terms such as 'breastfeeding' and 'breastmilk'

[MissMoped]

because it’s not gender inclusive language, I believe with particular reference to the transexual debate.

This is at Brighton and Sussex nhs trust btw, good to know NHS money is being spent wisely btw, poring over the “incorrect” use of language.

The word “mother” apparently should not be used on its own; instead “mother or birthing parent” (um, isn’t that a mother?).

Breast milk and breastfeeding is to be replace by “breast/chest milk” or “milk from the feeding parent”. “Woman” should be replaced with “woman or person”.

Gobsmacked.

But as people keep pointing out - this is craziness for the sake of it!

Everybody, no matter what biological sex or gender, has breasts. Therefore the term breastfeeding is all inclusive already.

I'm a midwife and, for fear of angering people, this has annoyed me. Fair enough if there is an individual who identifies as a man and would like me to refer to it as chestfeeding, I'll do it. I won't be changing my language for everyone else I look after.

Mu h the same when a woman is hypnobirthing and requests that I use the word 'surge' instead of contraction. That's fine, but I don't then use surge when I talk to everyone else... Madness

What utter nonsense. Both men and women have breast tissue. It's breastfeeding. Babies feed from the breast. What is happening to the world? Has everyone gone mad?

@Frazzzledmrs

Haven't people heard of trans men? Surely if being female is being 'eroded' by men transitioning to women, being male is also 'eroded' by females transitioning to males. So maybe it all cancels out and we can just get on with things? Some women have moaned forever about not wanting to hear 'breast is best' maybe now we're just told it's milk. I don't see how the experience and inclusivity of any gender, trans or otherwise in birth classes or maternity services makes any difference to my experience. It must be a source of great pain that trans women can't biologically conceive, or even those born without a clear gender - if there's some way they can have families of their own with a partner etc then fair play to them. I'm not going to deny someone else something that I've been able to take for granted.

It doesn’t cancel out at all. Because when women enter male spaces they don’t dominate those spaces and take control. Whereas when men enter women’s spaces.....well....the world.....! Women only spaces were created so women could safely participate in society.

Society hasn’t changed so much.

I totally agree @Guineapigbridge.

What a fucking joke.
Talk about taking the bull by the horns and letting it shit on your daisies 😂
Women give birth, they have breasts and they have breast milk. Medical Fact.

My gender is being gradually erased.

@Karmachameleons

Hm. I stand corrected!

Still unbelievable!

Someone stop the earth as I really just want to get off it now

The guidance is at www.bsuh.nhs.uk/maternity/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/01/Gender-Inclusive-Language-in-Perinatal-Services-BSUH.pdf

If Brighton & Sussex Trust has money to spend on this I trust nobody on their postnatal wards will ever ever tell a new mother they must wait for help /drugs etc. due to lack of resources.

Apart from stories in two right-wing rags I can't find anything to suggest this is true. The Brighton & Sussex NHS Trust and Sussex Community NHS web pages refer extensively to breastfeeding, mothers and pregnant women.

I suppose this explains why there are so many maternity scandals - scandalous rates of birth injuries to women, Black women 4 times more likely to die in childbirth, Morecambe Bay, Shrewsbury & Telford Enquiries, consistent understaffing and poor quality maternity care in so many hospitals.
Meanwhile the useful idiots in Brighton & Sussex NHS spend countless £££ & staff time pandering to the demands of a a tiny percentage of women who have transitioned to be men who might be offended by the use of women's language relating to our bodies and the birthing of our children. This is their priority

[quote fannyFERNACKERPANN]www.thetimes.co.uk/article/breastfeeding-is-now-chestfeeding-brightons-trans-friendly-midwives-are-told-pwlvmcnc7[/quote]
The Times is a right wing rag?

Embracing the power of the female body was a key part of getting through a very difficult pregnancy for me. Also for managing to breastfeed. I visualized a long tradition of strong women nourishing their young and creating the human race from nothing. It’s incredibly important to me that my experience is as female-centered. I have to imagine that I am not the only woman that needs that feeling of female energy to get her through the tough moments of being a new mother. This change in language could do real harm. N

Apart from stories in two right-wing rags I can't find anything to suggest this is true.
See *Motorina"'s link above...

It's absolute twaddle.

Disgusting! I won't be changing my language. I am still breastfeeding my daughter at 2.5 years.

So bad it’s funny.

Meanwhile we have forced sterilisation in China....

The world has gone stark raving bonkers.

NoNotHim, look at Motorolas link. What’s right wing got to do with it anyway I’m not sure (and not a political argument either). I’m with the PP who said “Stop the world I want to get off”, or at least live in a country without this self indulgent lunacy.

@Frazzzledmrs

Haven't people heard of trans men? Surely if being female is being 'eroded' by men transitioning to women, being male is also 'eroded' by females transitioning to males. So maybe it all cancels out and we can just get on with things? Some women have moaned forever about not wanting to hear 'breast is best' maybe now we're just told it's milk. I don't see how the experience and inclusivity of any gender, trans or otherwise in birth classes or maternity services makes any difference to my experience. It must be a source of great pain that trans women can't biologically conceive, or even those born without a clear gender - if there's some way they can have families of their own with a partner etc then fair play to them. I'm not going to deny someone else something that I've been able to take for granted.

So if a trans man who gives birth to a baby because of their female reproductive system, can choose to be called the 'father' or 'parent' as per their wishes, why on earth should women lose the right to be reffered to as the mother? Which by the way we are, everyone knows it even if they won't admit it. It's disgusting and its not trans men who are the problem here!

@MissMoped

NoNotHim, look at Motorolas link. What’s right wing got to do with it anyway I’m not sure (and not a political argument either). I’m with the PP who said “Stop the world I want to get off”, or at least live in a country without this self indulgent lunacy.

Right wing because of your bigoted views obviously. The far left are more than willing to swallow and push this crap onto everyone else! It needs to stop!

Hmmm

I had a look at the document.

So far they have mentioned that women are often marginalised in healthcare

And while they say this

'We also recognise that there is currently biological essentialism and transphobia present
within elements of mainstream birth narratives and discourse'

They also say this

'Please note that these language changes do not apply when discussing or caring for
individuals in a one-on-one capacity where language and documentation should reflect
the gender identity of the individual. When caring for cis women it is good practice to
use terminology that is meaningful and appropriate to the individual; this may include
terms such as woman, mother or breastfeeding.'

I really wish people would be a bit more circumspect with this stuff. It's not nearly as bad as OP makes out. They say they take an additive approach- so pregnant women and people. Type thing.

Let's not get people riled up over half a story.

When the NHS main website says 8 out of 10 people under 40 get pregnant in a year of having unprotected sex, then there's really no need to do this. There enough ludicrous stuff out there not to worry!

She doesn't, pumpkin bump.

The document says so.

Maybe Pumpkin. But see Motorola’s link, lots of advisors, perhaps even a majority, on the Maternity Gender Inclusive NHS document are “trans” men. Why are they getting a say on how mothers should be addressed or described is a bloody mystery to me.

www.bsuh.nhs.uk/maternity/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/01/Gender-Inclusive-Language-in-Perinatal-Services-BSUH.pdf