AYUSH ministry has released a booklet called Mother and Child Care which has come up with some strange advice for pregnant women.

As it turns out, it's not just some retired judges in the Indian judiciary who have some weird notions about sex and pregnancy. There are some government ministries too.

Minister of State for for the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) Shripad Naik has released a booklet called Mother and Child Care which has come up with some strange advice for pregnant women.

"Pregnant women should detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment, hatred and lust. Avoid bad company and be with good people in stable and peaceful condition always," PTI quoted the booklet — issued by government-funded Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) — as saying.

The advice honestly sounds more like a guide to become a saint rather than advice given to pregnant women. While it is true that one should avoid negative feelings like anger and hatred, it is completely harmless for pregnant women to have sex as long as the pregnancy is normal.

It is a well-established fact in medicine that during normal pregnancy, sex is harmless because the baby in the mother's womb is protected by amniotic fluid and uterus muscles.

The booklet has also asked pregnant women not to eat non-vegetarian food if they wish to have a healthy baby.

According to NDTV, gynaecologist Mandakaini Kumari disagrees. "It is not recommended to avoid non-vegetarian food at all...it is a good source of protein and carbohydrates," the report quoted her as saying. "Sex is also fine unless there are complications."

Naik also told PTI that "the booklet does not contain any advice on abstaining from sex." This is hilarious because detaching oneself from lust and abstaining from sex are strongly correlated.

The booklet also recommends hanging "good and beautiful pictures" on bedroom walls, which, it says, will also have a positive impact on the foetus.

With inputs from PTI