Royal College of Midwives Scrambles to Apologise For ‘Postnatal People’ Gaff ‘Erasing’ Mothers
‘Huge Oversight’
New safe sleep guidance from @MidwivesRCM makes no mention of women or mothers. Instead they are 'postnatal people'. This in spite of the fact that evidence shows safety differences if baby co-sleeps with breastfeeding mum / non BF mum / dad. #sexmattershttps://t.co/qWAzOq9kW8 pic.twitter.com/Kj6nLv45lV
— Milli Hill (@millihill) December 2, 2021
That midwives choose to take away the name mother from women who have gone through pregnancy and labour and are going through the rollercoaster of those early days of a new baby feels like betrayal.
— Brigid McGuire (@MBeeMcG) December 2, 2021
‘Woman’ and ‘mother’ are the most ‘inclusive’ words already. Everyone who gives birth is both...no matter how they identify. This supposedly inclusive language is confusing & even misleading. Postnatal people??? Who *are* they?
— Heather Welford (@Heather_pw) December 2, 2021
Isn't 'midwife' a rather non-inclusive title? I would think male, transmale, and single practitioners would be triggered by the title. Funny how they can spend so much energy 'erasing' woman from their materials and ignore the elephant in their name. Perhaps birthing assistants?
— Honora 🇺🇸🗽⚖️🦀☘️💚🤍💜 (@Honoratoo) December 2, 2021
Putting ideology before the safety of newborns. Nice.
— Sally S Horse (@SeaHorseSal) December 2, 2021
Oversight? Really? Or actually deliberate move which you're now regretting. There's a difference.https://t.co/h5ydyAwFSn pic.twitter.com/ub6hphK3Uq
— Danielle Palmer (@LongTallDani) December 2, 2021
“Postnatal people” is a uselessly vague term particularly in an RCM document as it could apply to patients/clients, postnatal staff and patient/client’s birthing partner. They “should be shown how the call bell works” applies to all.
— Worst Witch (@witch_worst) December 2, 2021
We would like to apologise that women are not mentioned in our recent safer sleeping guidance. This was a huge oversight on our part, especially as we are committed as an organisation to ensure that women are never erased from the narrative around pregnancy & birth. @millihill
— Royal College of Midwives 💙 (@MidwivesRCM) December 2, 2021
Hi @millihill just to reassure you that we also talk about mums, 'maternal', mothers and women in this guidance, as well as parents, families, carers and postnatal people.
— Dr Mary Ross-Davie (@MaryRossDavie) December 2, 2021