An NHS guidebook for soon-to-be parents has removed the word ‘dad’ following a complaint claiming it “was not inclusive of people in same-sex relationships”.
The Ready Steady Baby book, a free guide handed out to expectant parents for the past 14-years, has written out ‘dad’ and replaced it with the gender-neutral phrase ‘partner’ in response to the complaint.
The 220-page guidebook offers advice on pregnancy, labour, birth and parenting tips up until the baby’s first year. The NHS hands out more than 700,000 copies each year.
The politically correct move has angered family campaigners, who believe the removal of ‘dad’ undermines traditional family set-ups.
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Norman Wells from the Family Education Trust, said in a statement: “This is all part of an agenda to present as natural a type of family that cannot be created by natural means.
“The NHS should not be squandering tax payers’ money to advance the cause of a minority interest group.
“No matter how much effort is made to present positive images of families headed by same-sex couples, the fact remains it takes a man and a woman to create a child.”
Ann-Marie McKimm, Founder of Yano.co.uk, told HuffPost Lifestyle: “I totally agree that this is a waste of taxpayers money. When the guide needs re-printing then that is the time to use more non-specific references to parents and up-date it if necessary.
"But by dropping dad they could also be insulting two men that are becoming parents to a surrogates baby and will both be 'dads'. This is political correctness gone crazy. Good old common sense needs to come into play here.”
However, NHS health Scotland, which is behind the booklet, defends the revision, saying in a statement, reports the Telegraph: "It is standard practice to review publications on a yearly basis, if not more often.
"At the time this complaint was received the Ready Steady Baby text had just been through its annual review, changes made and the new edition was printed in December 2011.
"The review process identified the need to use language that was more inclusive, particularly in relation to same sex partnerships.”