Trans terms like 'chestfeeding' to be banned in NHS under new changes to constitution
28 April 2024, 19:06
The NHS is set to crack down on transgender terms in hospitals - with "chestfeeding" the first to be banned.
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Health Secretary Victoria Atkins will announce new changes to the NHS constitution this week - setting out new rules for patient rights and using 'woke' language in a clinical setting.
Referring to "people with ovaries" rather than "women" will be outlawed in order to ensure clinicians use clear language grounded in biological sex rather than gender identity.
Under the changes, patients will be given the right to request that intimate care is carried out by someone of the same sex.
A government source told the Sunday Telegraph: “The Government has been clear that biological sex matters, and women and girls are entitled to receive the protection and privacy they need in all healthcare settings.
“Our proposed updates to the NHS constitution will give patients the right to request same-sex intimate care and accommodation to protect their safety, privacy and dignity.”
For years, maternity services across the UK have be told to swap the term "breastfeeding" for more inclusive phrases such as "chestfeeding" or "infantfeeding".
Midwives were instructed to swap the words "vaginal birth" for "frontal or lower birth" in a bid to make trans and non-binary people feel more comfortable during pregnancy.
Recommendations were initially made after the LGBT Foundation gathered the responses from 121 trans and non-binary people in the UK who had first-hand experience of maternity services in Britain.
