“Women and birthing people. “

[Riapia]

Who said that?
A doula on the PM Programme on BBC R4 tonight between 5.40 and 5.45.

What they want us to do is to force all pregnant people to call themselves women. I know because we had a bunch of them try and protest here once. 4 showed up. 3 went home realising they should stop reading the Daily Mail. One made it easier for the other 3 to see they were being silly. Luckily i was on annual leave.

All “pregnant people” are women though - I’d have thought you as a HCP would know that only ppl of the female sex can be pregnant

we dont pander to other delusions. We don’t go along with agreeing with ppl with anorexia that they’re fat or ppl who insist that they’re Jesus & hear voices that they really are and do. Why are we going along with deluded women who insist that they’re men to the point of the word woman or mother being literal violence - and yet arebt triggered by pregnancy

I also have to facilitate several things which i feel have no scientific background. It really makes no difference to me. I just present ant risks and recommend how to minimise them. Im too busy to do much else.

Also many trans men hate being pregnant, as do many women. We support everyone regardless. Well i do.

Did those women also take heavy doses of synthetic wrong sex hormones to grow their breast? Nope. I just can't. Makes me feel sick at some people who allegedly have care of babies. And actually, yes, I do have a problem with adoptive mothers using a lot of domperidone to induce lactation, who haven't given birth inducing lactation to feed older babies for their own validation.

Altho we all know the lactation fetish is almost exclusive to men, so I doubt those women have the same motivations.

This is very commonly used, I don’t know why you’re surprised. Why not put your energy to lobbying for actual improvements to maternity care. I’m 20 weeks and couldn’t care less what I’m referred to as.

Tell the transactivists that Peonies. You don't care what you're referred to as so why are they making such a fuss?

Yep, always works one way doesn't it.

Why would a trans man need a hormone to grow breasts? They either have them, or they have had them removed so dont breastfeed.

I personally have never encountered a trans woman who wants to breastfeed. Most trans men I have encountered as parents are partnered with either cis women or non-binary people who can theoretically conceive themselves.

Trans women are usually supporting a cis female partner who is pregnant and will breastfeed themselves.

Did these trans men not find 9 months of pregnancy, growing a baby in their womb and then giving birth out of their vagina dysphoric??? Breastfeeding surely is the least of their worries?? Anyway, it’s chest feeding not breastfeeding and therefore not dysphoria-inducing at all.
(the mental gymnastics must be exhausting!)

Doula? Is this a qualified Nurse or Midwife who was asked to comment?

Yes many do. But believe it or not, many women are reluctantly pregnant because they want a(nother) child (think of the revent birth trauma report). They dont enjoy pregnancy and some experience high levels of dysphoria, too.

There are some women who hate/fear/resent pregnancy so much, it can be difficult to comprehend why they have (m)any children. But pregnancy/birth is a short part of parenthood, and that fact drives them to be the parent they want to be, even if it means tolerating pregnancy.

Some awful comments on here from those purporting to be hcps. But unsurprising when you read the report and understand that a lack of empathy, prejudice and contempt by medics (sometimes for individual women and sometimes for women based on their class, race etc) is a feature of so much maternity "care" in this country:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5074398-birth-truama-poor-maternity-tolerated-as-normal-inquiry-says

Then later you say “We support everyone regardless. Well i do.” Except you’ve said that you specialise so that you work with people who interest you most. So not everyone then? Especially not middle class “entitled” women? some of whom the midwives might have forgotten to give pain relief medication to?
look I know midwives work under the most awful conditions and are woefully under-resourced and that is why care for mothers and babies isn’t at the standard we ought to be able to expect in a country as relatively rich as this. Your job must be very stressful, and I guess you’ll become resentful of non-vulnerable people who demand better standards than you are able to provide. But those better standards (ie enough midwives to keep all mothers and babies as safe as possible) ARE something we should be demanding as a society. At the same time, it is still ok for middle class women (like most of us on mumsnet) to object to women-erasing language and inaccurate or confusing biological terminology.

So fucking appalling that I have no words.

How are women affected by the fact that I assisted in a homebirth for someone called "Steve" last week who will be the daddy of the baby he birthed?

What utter, utter bullshit this is. FFS.

My speciality is basically "vulnerable women". They are always over 19 (we have a teen midwife) but can have a range of social issues. Not usually an active dependency though. Well not to something like heroin anyway.

I have many affluent clients due to DV, war, and mental health issues. The people I work with tend to be busy focusing on their situation, though. They dont focus on stuff that doesnt affect their lives like the trans man in the next bed.

How does it affect you? Steve and baby are doing well.

Men aren't using it. Trans men are using it. They are actually women. Trans women obviously cannot use maternity services

Why? Because I support pregnant people and provide individualised care?

It is what we have to do as HCPs. Especially midwives.

This is why you can look silly. You dont even know what youre outraged about. More than one person has alluded to a belief that people with no womb can get pregnant while lecturing me about science

We even have global groups on on facebook where we discuss ways to improve care for all Queer people accessing maternity services. There are cabals of midwives and doctors who conspire to deliver equal care to all. Regardless of their pronouns.