AYUSH Ministry Terms Reports On 'Sex During Pregnancy' As 'Inaccurate', Says Some Facts Misrepresented

After facing a huge backlash over the instructions given in its booklet, the Ministry of AYUSH on Wednesday termed the reports as incorrect. The AYUSH booklet had allegedly  stated that pregnant women should control lust, hang "beautiful" pictures on the wall and shun non-vegetarian food to deliver a healthy baby.

In a statement, the AYUSH said, "Some reports have appeared in the print and electronic media since June 13, 2017 concerning the publication 'Mother and Child Care' of Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN), an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH. Unfortunately, many of these reports are seen to be inaccurate, and some are even seen to misrepresent facts."

The Ministry said that nowhere in the booklet 'no sex' has been mentioned.

"Some news reports carry an assertion that the booklet puts forward the 'prescription' that 'pregnant women in India' should 'say no to sex after conception'. This is far from the truth. In fact, the words 'no sex' do not feature at all in the booklet," it added.

The AYUSH statement said that the media paid selective attention to the suggestions on page 14 of the booklet.

"The suggestion on page 14 of the booklet regarding avoiding certain types of food like tea, coffee, white flour products, fried and oily items and non-veg during pregnancy, is seen to have received selective attention. The suggestion that non-vegetarian food may be avoided (as Yoga & Naturopathy don't advocate non-vegetarian food in its practice) has been singled out for high-lighting in some reports, omitting the mention of white flour products, fried and oily items etc," it added.

The Ministry also termed the media claims 'incorrect' that the report that it was released by the Minister of State (IC) for AYUSH in the recent past.

"This publication has been in distribution through the units of the erstwhile Department of AYUSH and CCRYN since 2013. The report that it was released by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH in the recent past is incorrect," said the AYUSH in a statement.

The AYUSH said that the said booklet puts together relevant and useful information culled out from many years of clinical practice in the fields of Yoga and Naturopathy.

"The CCRYN aims to take the well-known health benefits of Yoga and Naturopathy to expecting mothers and new mothers in a simple booklet format," it added.

The Ministry said that the booklet contains general guidelines for pregnant women, which are based on the principles and concepts of Yoga and Naturopathy.

"Many new mothers and families have appreciated that information relevant to the different phases of pregnancy has been made available in a simple format in the booklet," the Ministry further said.

The AYUSH asked the media to consider a fact noted by the UNESCO that "Yoga consists of techniques designed to help individuals build self-realization, ease any suffering they may be experiencing and allow for a state of liberation."

It further urged the media to "view the efforts of CCRYN to take the preventive health benefits of Yoga to all sections of the population (including expecting mothers) in the right perspective and requests them to support such initiatives in the larger interest of the nation". 

Earlier CPM leader Brinda Karat slammed the instructions given by the AYUSH ministry and said that there should be some action taken against those who are promoting this "nonsense".

"There are many obscurantists all over the world. But the issue here is as to who is promoting this obscurantism. The national health ministry shows high rates of malnutrition and anemia among pregnant woman in India. And instead of discussing what is the best nourishment we can provide, they bring out this absolutely absurd, obscurantist, nonsense and it is the public money which have been used to promote this," she said.

(With ANI & PTI inputs)