Gender inclusive language on public-facing maternity services websites in England

Abstract

Background Growing numbers of transgender and non-binary people are becoming gestational parents. It is important that patient-facing maternity websites reflect this. This study aimed to assess whether NHS maternity websites in England were inclusive to people of all genders. Methods A total of 130 maternity websites were examined for gender-inclusive language. Websites were categorised as ‘fully inclusive’ if no gender-specific pronouns or terminology was used, ‘inclusive’ if no gendered terminology or pronouns were used but ‘woman/women’ or ‘mothers/mums’ was used to describe patients, or ‘not inclusive’ if gender-specific terms were used, such as ‘she/her’ or ‘ladies’. Results Overall, 71.5% (n=93) of NHS services websites used language that was either inclusive or fully inclusive, but 28.5% (n=37) of providers analysed used language that was not inclusive. Conclusions Increasing language inclusivity in maternity services may help to reduce discrimination experienced by transgender and non-binary patients and contribute to a fulfilled and more diverse workforce.