In a post, the Ministry of Health replaces “woman” with “body that gave birth”

When publishing on social media about the postpartum period, the Ministry of Health, led by Minister Nísia Trindade, replaced the terms “woman” and “mother” with “body of the person who gave birth” and “person who gave birth”. In the publication, the folder advises mothers to carry out the so-called puerperal consultation.

“At this stage, the body of someone who gave birth is in the process of recovery, going through a series of physical, emotional and psychological changes. It is estimated that the average postpartum period is 6 weeks, starting immediately after the baby is born. However, this period can vary depending on each situation, especially when related to breastfeeding. During this phase, the person who gave birth or experienced a pregnancy loss is readjusting your routine to the new reality”, dI made an excerpt from the text published on the social network, on January 14, 2024.

The publication generated a lot of criticism on social media, even from profiles that tend to adhere to the PT narrative that seeks to criminalize opponents with the use of terms such as “extreme right” to refer to supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Critic of “Bolsonarism”, professor at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), Wilson Gomes, was one of those who condemned the Ministry of Health’s publication. The professor said that the government “completely gave in to the identity lobby”.

“The government decided to give in completely to the identity lobby (except when Lula’s political interests overlap). He decided that he doesn’t need to consider what any other group thinks or thinks. I ask: if there were no Bolsonarism and the risk of B returning, where would we be?” wrote the teacher on the social network.

Professor and pro-life activist, Francisco Razzo, warned of the intentional corruption of the language adopted by the government in the name of “commitment to neocolonialist ideologies of identity politics”.

“The ‘person who gives birth’ is called ‘mother’. There is no ideology in the world that can change the truth value and meaning of this beautiful word in the Portuguese language. By the way, in Latin, she is beautiful: ‘mater’, which is at the root of countless other words: ‘maternity’, ‘matriarch’, ‘marriage’ and ‘matrix’, for example. When researching other etymological roots, I found an incredible variety for ‘mother’ in African languages: ‘Mama’, in Swahili; ‘Umama’, in Zulu; ‘Maame’, in Akan. But nothing compares to ‘Amai’, in xonas. In Brazil, the linguistic diversity of the original peoples is immense. For ‘mother’, I particularly liked ‘sy’. The current government, which claims to preserve the memory of people marginalized by oppressive Western culture, has adopted the term ‘gestational person’ to replace ‘mother’, due to its commitment to neocolonialist ideologies of identity politics”, wrote Razzo on the social network. Professor Francisco Razzo is also a columnist for People’s Gazette.

Several other profiles reinforced criticism of the post.

“This mismanagement replaces ‘mother’ with ‘the person who gave birth’. I wonder if the misgovernment parliamentarians, mothers, supported such an aberration. Another stage completed in the fight against the family. Brazil, resist!” wrote conservative influencer Bárbara Destefani on the social network X.

“Disgusting militancy. The goal of the left is to destroy absolutely everything,” said another profile.

After the negative repercussion, the Ministry of Health made another publication on the topic, on January 18th, in which it uses the term “mother”, however, the previous publication remains up in the air.

“From the beginning to the end of pregnancy, after birth and during the child’s first months, assistance to the mother and baby is comprehensive and a priority in the SUS”, says the new post from the Ministry.