Midwives warn against new NHS gender training plans

NHS England wants to recruit a group to run ‘gender inclusive training’ classes across 40 NHS maternity services, including trans-inclusive language and pronouns.

The sessions, with up to £100,000 taxpayer funding, will also include online resources, information posters and “best practices examples of how to care for trans and non-binary birthing people.”

Midwives said the ‘gender inclusive training’, could have “real implications” for mothers and warn that NHS transgender training plans could “be a repeat of the Tavistock scandal”.

300 doctors, nurses, midwives, psychologists, maternity support workers have written to NHS England demanding the plan be placed on “immediate hold” as it has “no evidence base”.

With Woman, a group of midwives and obstetricians, wrote to Lizzie Streeter, NHS England’s “national LGBT programme manager”, on January 9th, warning that, “A scandal similar to Tavistock could be repeated in NHS maternity services due to poor research and the influence of advocacy organisations.”

The proposed NHS training is based on research findings by activist group the LGBT Foundation, which was commissioned for the Department of Health in 2021 and has not undergone peer-review.

The report urged maternity services to scrap “non-inclusive language” in favour of terms like “chestfeeding”.

WithWoman claims the research contained “significant flaws” and that its recommendation of “de-sexed language for all maternity service users is incompatible with evidence and current guidance”.

The letter, now signed by 2,000 people, also warned Streeter of the “danger” in ushering in activist groups “without sufficient clincial expertise” and that the training scheme is “disproportionate”.