Campaigners are hitting out at a council accused of “writing out women” after it purged the word “mother” from maternity policy. 

Somerset Council has announced the replacement of “new and expectant mothers” with the phrase “new and expectant parents”.

Its HR committee said it has been changed to be “inclusive to all employees who are pregnant, have given birth in the last 6 months, and those breastfeeding, including transgender or non-binary people”.

Campaigners have hit out at the council, claiming that the word “mother” is being purged from official documents despite only biological women being able to give birth and breastfeed.

The council’s New and Expected Parents policy uses the word “parents” 16 times but never mentions “mothers”.

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One section refers to the council’s duty to “provide a place for pregnant and breastfeeding parents to rest or where practicable and provide a private room for nursing parents to express and store breast milk”.

Claire Loneragan, from Women’s Rights Network, told MailOnline: “Replacing the word ”mother” with ”parent” is not neutral. It changes the scope of the policy to include men. 

“But men – whether new parents or not – will never need the ‘place for pregnant and breastfeeding parents to rest’ that Somerset County Council will provide.

“It is not inclusive to remove the words mother and woman from a policy that relates entirely to pregnancy, breastfeeding and the challenges that new and expectant mothers face. It writes women out of our own life experiences.”

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Milli Hill, a writer and founder of the Positive Birth Movement, said: “The policy ONLY covers pregnancy and maternity leave, it is not for anyone but women. How it is inclusive to erase the word ”mother” from this policy completely.”

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said: “Somerset Council is an inclusive organisation. 

“The move to gender-neutral language in our policies highlights our commitment to inclusivity.

“It does not exclude women; it simply ensures that no staff, for whom this and other policies may be applicable, are excluded.”

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