NHS calls mothers ‘birthing people' in defiance of Wes Streeting's anti-woke demands
The NHS is routinely calling mothers 'birthing people' in defiance of Wes Streeting's anti-woke crackdown.
Dozens of midwifery jobs advertised by the health service use the gender-neutral term instead of 'mother'.
Critics said the phrase was 'disgusting' and erased women's role in childbirth to accommodate a 'tiny minority' of transgender men who become pregnant.
Transgender men are people born female with female reproductive organs, but who live their lives as a member of the opposite gender.
In February, Mr Streeting called for an end to 'misguided' diversity, equality and inclusion practices in the NHS as he urged the health service to focus on patient outcomes instead of 'ideological hobby horses'.
The terms 'birthing people' and 'pregnant people' have become widely used in recent years because transgender men who give birth are said to not like being called 'mothers'.
The Sunday Telegraph has identified dozens of job advertisements for midwifery roles where NHS trusts refer to mothers as 'birthing people'.
They include Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which is recruiting for a midwife to provide 'intra partum and postnatal care to birthing people' for between £37k and £44k pa.
Other adverts from Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust say the successful candidate will be required to provide 'evidence-based care' for the 'birthing people' who use their services.
Elsewhere, an advert from the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust for a labour ward coordinator says the successful candidate would be required to meet 'birthing people's individual needs'.
The revelations prompted the Department of Health to slap down the NHS, saying the language would confuse patients and was a 'waste of time'.
'The NHS needs to be laser-focused on the things that matter to patients,' a spokesman said.
'Women should not look forward to childbirth in fear and look back on it with trauma.
'That is the urgent problem in maternity services the NHS ought to be solving.
'Unnecessarily erasing the word 'mothers' from NHS documents is a waste of time and confusing for patients.'
Helen Joyce, director of advocacy of human rights charity Sex Matters, said the term 'birthing people' was 'dehumanising'.
'It's not just ludicrous to see jobs for midwives referring to 'birthing people' instead of 'mothers': it's disgusting,' she said.
'This sort of dehumanising language has no place in healthcare, and anyone who thinks it's appropriate should be nowhere near a labour ward.
'It's particularly ironic given that the origin of the word 'midwife' means 'with woman'.
'On the rare occasion that an expectant or labouring woman rejects the use of female words for herself, healthcare staff can treat her professionally and sensitively as an exception.
'There's no need to erase all women – and all mothers – to accommodate this tiny minority.'
The language continues to be used despite Victoria Atkins, the Conservative former health secretary, urging the NHS to stop erasing women by using the vocabulary last year.
In February last year, the University of Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust provoked anger when it claimed breast milk produced by transgender women born male is as good for babies as that produced by the mother who has given birth to them.
The same trust also previously used the term 'chestfeeding' instead of breastfeeding, claiming it was more inclusive.
An NHS spokesman said: 'The NHS is determined to ensure women are supported well throughout their pregnancy and afterwards.
'These job adverts are produced by local NHS organisations, which should aim to treat everyone with respect and encourage the recruitment of midwives.'
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