‘Said no to meat for new mothers, not sex’

After receiving flak for asking pregnant women and new mothers to eat no meat, have no sex, and think spiritual thoughts in its booklet, ‘Mother and Child Care’, shared by Ayush minister Shripad Naik on June 9, the ministry defended the move.

It said: “The said booklet puts together relevant and useful information culled out from many years of clinical practice in the fields of yoga and naturopathy. It aims to take the wellknown health benefits of yoga and naturopathy to expecting and new mothers.”

Health professionals criticised the publication for giving unscientific recommendations to expectant and new mothers, which include, among other things, having a sattvik (pure) diet without iron-and proteinpacked meat and eggs, and shunning “desire, anger, attachment, hatred and lust”.

“This publication has been in distribution through the units of the erstwhile Department of Ayush and Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) since 2013,” said the clarification. Irrespective of when it was published, the booklet was officially distributed on June 9 as part of the ministry’s press pack for International Day for Yoga (on June 21).

The clarification further says “the suggestion that non-vegetarian food may be avoided (as yoga & naturopathy doesn’t advocate non-vegetarian food in its practice) has been singled out for highlighting in some reports,” but claims it did not recommend women 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 reads.