Gender neutral language in pregnancy care

[QuirkyJadeSwan]

So I’m currently pregnant with my first and have been kind of low key annoyed with how common discussions around pregnancy and related topics remove to term woman or female (I.e birthing people). I started getting bugged by this during my trying to conceive phase and now it bugs me even more. I know it’s kind of a minor thing in the grand scheme of things but I needed to vent. Seriously going through TTC & pregnancy has made me about 10x more aware of how different physically women are.

Yes we do actually. We've had to be very discreet about our IVF and my previous pregnancies and miscarriages, and he's had to lie about why he's needed time off for those things.

Then you are aware of how it isn't "basic" @Lady1ntheLake.

Because Zelda, you and I as well as I'm sure a considerable number of other women on the thread, have had certain difficult experiences which are exclusive to women and girls.

I'm not pregnant? You think I'm lying about being pregnant?

Is posting an alternative view "causing trouble?"

@Lady1ntheLake I don't think you're worried about your husband being fired for taking parental leave because that's not what will happen, because men don't face the same discrimination women do.

Urinating can be a very complicated matter with lots of pathologies and complications, but it's still a basic biological function.

Where we live, it’s a real possibility. We’re in a country with shared parental leave, and he works for a small company that’s struggling to stay afloat. They’re going to be furious. It's been causing us sleepless nights.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. When the bloke standing next to you can get pregnant like you did is when I'll accept the term "pregnant people".

Can you imagine? "No, YOU get pg next time. YOU deal with the sickness and lack of sleep and sore boobs. I'm going back to work!"

Sorry, meant to quote the above. Your comment is ignorant of the situation in different countries.

@Lady1ntheLake name the country then.

I'd be willing to bet that the parental leave is protected if it's a legal right, and in any event, that situation is nowhere near close to the very real dangers women face everyday.

My biggest objection to all this bullshit is that its only women who are expected to be erased , not men. Look up information on prostate cancer or male suicide prevention - its all men, men, men. Not men and people with prostates. Not penis owners. Just men.

Exactly my point.

But women are just "people with uteruses, people who menstruate, chestfeeders".

It absolutely is protected, but that won’t stop a small company from trying to circumvent the law, and we can’t afford a protracted legal battle.

Maternity discrimination is illegal but still happens all the time.

@Lady1ntheLake ah so you just think this one tiny issue means men are just as discriminated against as women are?

This is why women want their identity and rights to be protected.

Women want their rights protected. The identity part is a niche issue, where cis women are concerned.

And I was referring to the point that discrimination in the workplace related to parenting only affects women. In countries with progressive policies it can affect men too.

@Lady1ntheLake women are women.

We don't want our identities erased in order to comfort others.

Learning French at school, I remember being told that 100 women in a room would be referred to as "elles", whereas 99 women and one man would be "Ils" ( thus cementing in our young minds how important men are), but I bet even the French health service doesn't refer to its pregnant patients as "Ils".

The "pregnant people" thing is supposedly all about the inclusion of those uterus-havers who aren't women. Anyone who falls into this very tiny, possibly non-existant, category should, while pregnant, have the common sense to realise that the term "pregnant women" also includes them.

No one is erasing your identity. What nonsense.

God forbid anyone you disapprove of should be comfortable.

@Lady1ntheLake but they are.

Women are no longer women. We're uterus owners. People who menstruate. People who chest feed.

DON'T YOU DARE "WHATABOUT" at me.

I Know it's illegal - I spent my first pregnancy in and out of court.

Trans men are women HTH

Push off with that. He's not pregnant.

In that case you ought to use "pregnant mammals." It's correct, factual, and even more inclusive by not othering mothers-to-be with a transspecies identification.

I've explained our concerns extensively on this thread. Your post is ignorant.

And now breast feeding is chest feeding

I gave birth last year and didn't come across any gender neutral language. Signs everywhere in antenatal clinics and postpartum wards said 'pregnant women' and 'breast feeding.' I'm in England so might be different in other countries. Only women can be pregnant so at least my NHS Trust knows that.