UK health officials have ordered nurses in two hospitals to replace the term “breast milk” with “human milk” – part of a pioneering effort to be more inclusive for trans and non-binary parents.
The terms “breastfeeding” and “breast milk” should be replaced by more “gender-inclusive” phrases in the prenatal units of Brighton and Sussex NHS Trust university hospitals, the health center said in a 19-page document quoted by Sky News on Wednesday.
Instead, health professionals were advised to use the phrases “breast / breast milk”, “breastfeeding mother’s milk” and “human milk” to be more “inclusive for trans and non-binary parturients, without excluding language of women or motherhood ”, state the guidelines.
The hospital system announced the new language counseling on Monday.
“Today we are launching the UK’s first clinical and language guidelines to support trans and non-binary parturients”, the hospital system tweeted. “We are proud to take care of trans and not binary people.”
Nurses were also encouraged to avoid the terms “mothers” and “women” on their own – unless requested in specific cases. Instead, they were asked to use gender-neutral terms such as “parents” and “people”, according to the hospital system.
“As midwives and childbirth workers, we focus on improving access and health outcomes for marginalized and disadvantaged groups,” the hospital system said in a statement. “We are consciously using the words ‘women’ and ‘people’ together to make it clear that we are committed to working to address health inequalities for all those who use our services.”
But the changes “do not apply when discussing or caring for individuals in an individual capacity, where language and documentation must reflect the individual’s gender identity,” said the hospital system.
On its website, the hospital system adds: “We recognize the additional challenges that gender identity can have in pregnancy, childbirth and infant feeding and we recognize the importance of providing inclusive and respectful care to pregnant women and their families”.