Obstetrics students are taught how to help men give birth in a textbook that experts warn is full of anatomical fabrication.
The University of Edinburgh Napier told trainee midwives that they could care for a “man in labor” who has male genitalia and a prostate gland in an attempt to support transgender people.
A modular guide on how to provide safe childbirth care tells students: “It is important to note that while in most cases the mother will have female genitalia, you can care for a pregnant woman or woman giving birth who passes from male to female. and may still have external male genitalia.
“You need to be familiar with the catheterization procedure for both female and male anatomy. For this reason, where appropriate, this book is about the person giving birth. ”
The guide, obtained by The Telegraph, explains the procedure for “catheterization of the male anatomy” during childbirth, which is commonly used during a cesarean section to drain excess fluid, along with charts to “provide coverage of the scrotum.”
Obstetric students were advised that “men should be warned about the discomfort of a balloon passing through the prostate gland,” part of the anatomy found only in biological men.
This provoked a reaction from students at the university, one of only three Scottish institutions recognized by the Board of Nursing and Obstetrics for bachelor’s courses in obstetrics, as it is impossible for men to conceive or give birth.
On Thursday night, experts criticized the leadership as “inconceivable” and warned that simplifying procedures risks dangerous practices.
“Including nonsense”
Professor Geraldine Walters, executive director of professional practice at the Board of Nurses and Midwives, the regulator, told The Telegraph: “This workbook includes some clear inaccuracies in its current form. We expect the university to review and correct this. “
Kat Barber, co-founder of Sex, Not Gender, Nurses and Midwives, added: “Women can’t have a prostate, that’s very clear, so this policy reads to me as inclusive to nonsense.”
The registered nurse told The Telegraph: “Someone who wrote the policy intended to include different genders, which is good, but in the absence of real knowledge of how to care for these people, which is dangerous.
“More worryingly, the students had to go to journalism to ask questions about what tells me a lot about the state of our medical and obstetric institutions, who should be able to ask questions.”
The reaction of the students when the guide was released at the end of last month led the course leaders to apologize for “the wording is wrong”. They said they meant a trans man who “is undergoing penile surgery but still has a uterus and can conceive.”
However, The Telegraph understands that the text of the guide has not changed and the university stopped it on Thursday.
Elaine Miller, a contributor to the Chartered Society for Physiotherapy, has expressed concern about scientific accuracy even for those who switch from women to men, given the lack of evidence for those undergoing phalloplasty to create a penis and want to give birth.
She told Reduxx, the feminist website that first reported the leadership: “A. [female] with a gender difference she can get pregnant, but there will be no male genitalia.
“Most of them [females] who use testosterone in the doses used for “transition” will develop vaginal atrophy. The fragile tissue of an atrophied vagina may not be able to stretch to hold the baby’s head, warning of “new types of birth injuries” that have not been studied.
“Language is the problem”
Men’s transgender people can still get pregnant if they haven’t had a hysterectomy or taken certain hormone-blocking drugs, such as Freddie McConnell, a trans man who gave birth but remained a “mother” in the post-Supreme Court battle. .
But this does not apply to trans women who are born male, as the eggs must be made by biological women and scientists have not yet achieved a breakthrough through methods such as IVF.
An increasing number of British universities are using terms such as ‘birth-giving’ in obstetrics courses to be trans-inclusive.
And last year, the NHS Trust at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals became the first in the country to formally implement a language policy that includes gender for maternity services, including words such as “breastfeeding.”
Debbie Hatton, a teacher who is a transgender woman, added: “Someone has to wake up – it’s crazy. I think language is the problem – people who need to know better sign it because they don’t want to upset people. “
Napier University in Edinburgh said it was “committed to upholding the professional standards required of us” by the Council of Nurses and Midwives.
A spokesman added this “desire[es] include all people, including those who identify within the LGBTQ + communities. The training materials will be updated as needed. ”
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