Christian nurse fights NHS over discipline for opposing trans breastfeeding workshops
Men who take Domperidone to 'lactate' can cause heart problems for babies who drink it
A Christian nurse in the United Kingdom has secured legal representation after facing disciplinary action for objecting to “Queer Birth Club” workshops at NHS maternity services that touts trans breastfeeding and claims it's not just women who give birth.
The nurse, who has remained anonymous, is being defended by the London-based nonprofit Christian Legal Centre (CLC), according to a press release earlier this week from Christian Concern.
The Queer Birth Club, which was founded by a woman named AJ Silver who identifies as a man who has given birth, touts itself as “the UK’s first LGBTQ+ Competency workshop for those working in the maternity or perinatal sector.”
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The organization claims to have provided workshops to NHS trusts, universities, doula training schools, “hypnobirthing” schools, lactation consultants and private companies. Silver, who has spoken at the Royal College of Midwives, also penned a book titled Supporting Queer Birth, which touches on issues such as lactation for trans-identifying individuals.
“Our vision is that birth and parenthood is improved for all who birth and parent. Adding and amplifying voices of the overlooked and often invisible minorities in the birthing world,” the organization says, adding that they “want every health care professional and birth worker to feel able, competent and excited to support families that exist outside the world’s cis-heteronormality.”
The nurse being represented by CLC is raising questions regarding the Queer Birth Club workshops in light of the U.K. Supreme Court's ruling in April that the terms "woman" and "sex" in the country's Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.
“The content of these sessions undermines established clinical standards and introduces extreme ideological beliefs that have no place in healthcare settings,” the nurse said in a statement.
Of particular concern is the Queer Birth Club's promotion of drug-induced lactation in men who take Domperidone, which presents potential dangers to the hearts of the children who drink it, according to the drug manufacturer Janssen, according to The Telegraph. The club, which offers a “LGBTQ+ Competency in Lactation” course, has dismissed such concerns as “transmisogyny.”
The nurse said she believes “there are serious patient safety implications that warrant investigation. I am deeply concerned that this teaching on pregnancy attempts to downplay and discredit well-established clinical risks, potentially endangering the well-being of pregnant women, especially younger mothers.”
“The activist network at the heart of this club must be open and transparent and no longer allowed to undermine the law, biological reality, and basic standards in NHS services,” she added.
A spokesperson for the NHS told The Telegraph: “NHS training should always be produced in line with the best clinical evidence.”
Christian Legal Centre Chief Executive Andrea Williams said in a statement that initiatives like the Queer Birth Club workshops attempt to "embed gender ideology into clinical training" and are "ideologically driven."
“These workshops risk undermining evidence-based maternity care and compromise the privacy, dignity, and safety of both patients and staff. The NHS has a duty to uphold the law and to protect women, not to promote contested and harmful ideologies under the guise of inclusion," Williams said.
“An immediate review of these programs must be accelerated, and NHS leadership must ensure that all training and care provision is urgently grounded in biological reality and integrity.”
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
