Episode 15 - Karleen Gribble - Sex and Gender Based Language in Health Care

Karleen Gribble is an Australian breastfeeding and infant-feeding researcher whose work sits at the intersection of public health, emergency preparedness, maternal-infant care, and policy. She is affiliated with Western Sydney University, where her research profile lists work on breastfeeding, infant and young child feeding in emergencies, child protection, adoption, and sex and gender identity She joins us on the podcast to discuss the increasing use of desexed language like "chestfeeding" and "people with cervixes" in health care settings, and why she believes that this is confusing and alienating to women, and may lead to meaningful harm, even while attempting to be inclusive We also discuss the importance of accurate recording of birth sex in the medical records, and if there are ways to centre the importance of birth sex in health care decision making while respecting trans people's desire for privacy and dignity.