A group of hospitals in Great Britain is raising eyebrows after instructing midwives to start using the terms “chest feeding” and “human milk” to be more “gender inclusive.”
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals will also be rebranding their maternity services department as “perinatal services.”
“Terms like ‘chestfeeding’ and ‘human milk’ are being introduced at an NHS trust in a bid to boost inclusivity,” Bristol Live reports. “Staff have been asked to use gender-neutral language alongside – not instead of – traditional terms to ensure that all groups are represented.”
LBC reports that terms such as “woman” and “father” will also be superseded by “woman or person” and “parent,” “co-parent,” or “second biological parent” respectively.
“For us, a gender-additive approach means using gender-neutral language alongside the language of womanhood, in order to ensure that everyone is represented and included. … It is important to note that the term ‘women’ encompasses both cis and trans women. Professionals should be aware that co-parents could have any gender identity, and could also be cis, trans, non-binary, and/or intersex. … Unless conversation is focused on gender identity with relation to cis, trans or non- binary status, it is not necessary to include the adjectives ‘cis’ or ‘trans’ before the words ‘woman,’ ‘man,’ or ‘person,'” Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said in a statement about the changes.
The Daily Wire reports that “on a poster titled ‘Gender Inclusive Perinatal Care,’ Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust asks, ‘What can you do to support trans & non-binary parents?’ The poster answers, ‘Ask ALL service users about their pronouns & offer pronoun stickers to trans & non-binary people,’ ‘offer your own pronouns when introducing yourself,’ ‘get comfortable with ‘They, them, theirs’ pronouns,’ ‘use inclusive language when talking to, or about, groups of people,’ ‘make sure signs and leaflets are gender-inclusive.’”
