New Delhi: The Ministry of AYUSH has come up with altogether a new set of prescriptions for pregnant women in India to have healthy babies.
The prescription is advised in a booklet called Mother and Child Care released by Union Minister of AYUSH, Shripad Naik, which says, women should avoid intercourse, anger, meat, bad company and have only good thoughts. In addition to this, it says one should hang good and beautiful pictures in their rooms to have a healthy baby.
Contradicting to these suggestions, Senior Gynaecologist and Obstetrician Dr Malavika Sabharwal with Jeewan Mala Hospital and Nova Specialty Hospitals of the Apollo Healthcare Group says: “The advice is unscientific. Protein-deficiency malnutrition and anaemia are health concerns for pregnant women and meats are a great source of both protein and iron, which is better absorbed from animal sources than plant sources.”
As long as sex is concerned, if the pregnancy is normal, no restraints are needed as the baby in the womb is protected by the amniotic fluid and the uterus muscles, she adds.
The Ayush Ministry was formed by the BJP government after it came to power in 2014, to give an extra push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pitch for yoga. Facing criticism and mockery from many quarters, the ministry now says it will clarify what’s written in the booklet, reports HT.