Midwives taught how to help men give birth
Study guide accused of including ‘dangerous’ inaccuracies in attempting to be transgender inclusive
‘Women can’t have prostates, that’s quite straightforward, so this policy reads as though it is inclusive to the point of nonsense’
‘Language is the issue – people who should know better are signing this off because they do not want to upset people’
MIDWIFERY students are being taught how to help men give birth in a textbook that experts have warned is rife with anatomical fiction.
Edinburgh Napier University told training midwives they may be caring for a “birthing person” who has male genitalia and a prostate gland, in an effort to support transgender people.
A module guide on providing safe care in childbirth told students: “You may be caring for a pregnant or birthing person who is transitioning from male to female and may still have external male genitalia.
“You need to be familiar with the catheterisation procedure for both female and male anatomy. For this reason, where appropriate, this book refers to the birthing person.”
The guide, seen by The Daily Telegraph, explained the “male anatomy catheterisation” procedure, used during caesarean section to drain excess fluids, and had diagrams on “ensuring the scrotal area is covered”. Students were told to warn male persons of “discomfort as the deflated balloon passes through the prostate gland”, a part of anatomy only found in biological males.
The advice led to a backlash from students at the university – one of three Scottish institutions recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for undergraduate midwifery courses – as it is impossible for men to get pregnant or give birth.
Last night, experts called the guide “inclusive to the point of nonsense” and said simplifying procedures risked dangerous practices.
Prof Geraldine Walters, executive director of professional practice at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “This workbook includes some clear inaccuracies in its current form. We’d expect the university to review and correct this.”
Kat Barber, co-founder of the Sex Not Gender Nurses and Midwives group, added: “Women can’t have prostates, that’s quite straightforward, so this policy reads to me as though it is inclusive to the point of nonsense.
“Someone who has written the policy has aimed to include differing genders, which is fine, but in absence of real knowledge on how to care for those people, which is dangerous.”
Criticism from students after the guide’s release last month prompted course leaders to apologise for wording that was the “wrong way round”. They said they were referring to a trans man who “has surgery to construct a penis, but still has a uterus and may conceive”. The Telegraph understands the wording has not changed and the university last night stood by it.
Female-to-male transgender people can get pregnant if they have not had a hysterectomy or taken certain hormone-blocking drugs, such as Freddy Mcconnell, a trans man who gave birth.
This is not the case for trans women who are born male, as eggs must be made by biological females and no breakthrough in methods such as IVF has been made to solve this.
Debbie Hayton, a teacher who is a transgender woman, said: “I think language is the issue – people who should know better are signing this off because they don’t want to upset people.”
Edinburgh Napier University said it was “committed to upholding the professional standards required” by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. A spokesman said it wished “to be inclusive of all people, including those who identify within the LGBTQ+ communities”.