How can men give birth and ‘chest feed’?
SIR – You report (July 27) that in draft guidance, “the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said trans men who chose to chest feed should be offered ‘chest-feeding support in the same manner as for cis-women’.” Some readers will know me as the doctor who is currently fighting a protracted battle with the Department for Work and Pensions, over the use of forced language and transgender pronouns.
I remember learning a good deal about the differences between men and women at medical school. I understand that for gynaecologists an even greater depth of study is needed. How is it that they can talk about men giving birth, and call them chest feeders?
Women, and mothers, are the backbone of a thriving society. Breastfeeding is natural.
It is time all of my colleagues in the medical profession stood up and said what is patently obvious, and that is, that it is impossible either to change sex, or to be a member of the opposite sex. Can women trust themselves to doctors and midwives who seem to have lost the most basic grasp of biological reality, while carrying their lives and those of their children in their hands?
What, if asked what a woman is, would the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists answer?
Dr David C Mackereth Hull, East Yorkshire
SIR – In 2021 it was reported there was a shortage of 2,000 midwives. In April 2022, there was a further net loss of 700 midwives.
This means, on average, each maternity department in the United Kingdom is short of 20 midwives. It is my belief most people preparing to give birth would far rather see the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists prioritise a campaign for greater midwife numbers than preparing guidelines for trans parents to receive support for “chest feeding”.
Malcolm John Dickson FRCOG Morley Green, Cheshire