ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Pregnant women should not be called “expectant mothers” over fears it could upset transgender people, it was claimed.

The British Medical Association has urged for them to be known as "pregnant people" so it can include intersex or transgender men.

The advice was published in a BMA internal leaflet entitled “A guide to effective communication: inclusive language in the workplace”.

It suggests “the elderly” should be referred to as “older people”, “disabled lifts” as “accessible lifts” and someone who is "biologically male or female" known as "assigned male or female".

In the guide’s pregnancy section, it states: “Gender inequality is reflected in traditional ideas about the roles of women and men. Though they have shifted over time, the assumptions and stereotypes that underpin those ideas are often deeply rooted.

“A large majority of people that have been pregnant or have given birth identify as women. We can include intersex men and transmen who may get pregnant by saying ‘pregnant people’ instead of ‘expectant mothers’”.

The 14-page guidance, which is published online, was branded "completely ridiculous".

Conservative MP Philip Davies told the Daily Telegraph: "If you can’t call a pregnant woman an expectant mother, then what is the world coming to?"

The BMA said language was important in its aim to promote equal rights and opportunities.

A BMA spokesman said: "This is a guide for BMA staff and representatives aimed at promoting an inclusive workplace at the BMA.

"It is not workplace guidance for doctors which is clear from the fact it does not refer to patients."