'Father's Milk': Guidance for U.S. hospitals encourages 'inclusive' language change
The U.S. Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine has put together a new âinclusiveâ language guide for hospitals. The guide, which is designed to be âgender inclusiveâ proposes changing terms and common use like âbreastfeeding motherâ and âbreast milkâ with a number of woke alternatives, including âfatherâs milk.âÂ
The guide claims that the colloquial terms in common use as âtraditional termsâ need to be reworded to be inclusive of transgender men and non-binary individuals who do not identify as women despite possessing the ability to give birth and lactate.Â
As detailed by evolutionary biologist Colin Wright, the guide proposes terms like âhuman milkâ and âparentâs milkâ as viable alternatives for âbreast milk.âÂ
Additionally, the guide suggests replacing the word âmotherâ with âgestational parentâ and ânursing motherâ with âlactating person.â It also suggests replacing âbreastfeedingâ with âchestfeeding.âÂ
"Father's milk."https://t.co/mZ7EuMqo9a pic.twitter.com/rpxuu3UX6k
â Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) July 26, 2022
The word âbreastâ is also being replaced with the more technical term âmammary gland.âÂ
Speaking to The Post Millennial, Wright said the document was provided to him by a hospital nurse, who alerted him to its implementation at her hospital where nurses and doctors are required to ask each patient about the terms they are comfortable with.Â
âWhile this policy is portrayed as creating a friendly and âinclusiveâ hospital atmosphere, I think most people would rather have nurses focused on more important things like medications and proper dosages instead of devoting mental real estate to memorizing lists of inane âinclusiveâ terminology,â said Wright.Â
âABM recognizes that not all people who give birth and lactate identify as female, and that some individuals identify as neither female nor male,â said the ABM in a statement in 2021, adding that âthe use of desexed or gender-inclusive language is appropriate in many settings.âÂ
The organization calls for âfuture studies to include broader gender categories and include information about hormone therapies and surgeries for transgender patients.â

Ian Miles Cheong
Contributor
Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. Heâs kind of a big deal on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/stillgray