Lok Sabha Question No. 1196 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-02-09
Subject: Advisory to Pregnant Women
Ministry: AYURVEDA,YOGA & NATUROPATHY,UNANI,SIDDHA AND HOMEOPATHY (AYUSH)
Asked by: BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (AYUSH)

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1196 TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 TH FEBRUARY, 2018

## ADVISORY TO PREGNANT WOMEN

## 1196. SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

Will  the  Minister of AYURVEDA,  YOGA  AND  NATUROPATHY,  UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (AYUSH) be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  India  has  the  largest  number  of  maternal  deaths  in  the  world,  if  so,  th thereof, State/UT - wise, during the last five yea rs;
- (b) whether the Ministry has released a booklet titled Mother and Childcare through Yog Naturopathy  issued  by  Central  Council  for  Research  in  Yoga  and  Naturopathy  containing advisory to the pregnant women and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)whether the booklet urges the pregnant women to hang beautiful pictures on the wall detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment and hatred as well as abstain from sex pregnancy and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether the  advisory  also  urges  the  pregnant  women  to  avoid  eggs  and  meat  durin pregnancy and go for vegetarian diet, if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether his Ministry is confident that there is any scientific basis for the advisory expecta nt mothers in the said booklet and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF AYURVEDA, YOGA & NATUROPATHY, UNANI, SIDDHA AND HOMOEOPATHY (SHRI SHRIPAD YESSO NAIK)

- (a): Indiaranks 56 out of  183 countries in the world having Maternal Mortality Ratio of 1 i.e. proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births for the year 2015 as per the data from WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNPD (MMEIG) -November 2015.

A sample survey of births and deaths known as Sample Registration System (SRS) i being carried out on continuous basis by the Office of the Registrar General, India in r selected villages and urban blocks spread throughout the country. Along wit h various fertility and mortality indicators, SRS also provides direct estimates of maternal mortality through

nationally representative sample. Hence ,it does not estimate the total number of maternal deaths in the country, but only provides the number of maternal deaths recorded in the SRS sample

The results have been derived by following the practice of pooling the three years yield reliable estimates of maternal mortality. The details of MMR, as derived under SRS, for the years 2007 - 09, 2010 - 12 and 2011 - 13 are Annexed .

(b): Central  Council  for  Research  in  Yoga  and  Naturopathy  has  pub lished  an  information booklet  (n ot  as  an  advisory  or  trea tment  prescription)  titled  'Mother  &  Child  Care'  through Yoga and Naturopathy to be circulated free of cost among the masses to create an aware about importance of Yoga & Naturopathy based lifestyle intervention for Mother & Child Car

(c  ):The  boo klet  contains  general  guidelines  for  pregnant  woman,  which  are  based  on  t principles and concepts of Yoga & Naturopathy, and also useful information culled out many years of clinical practice in the fields of Yoga and Naturopathy. Our ancient lit t es based on Yoga & Naturopathy as well as research studies have established a direct corre between negative emotions and pregnancy complications and outcomes and maintaining a cal and relaxed mind with positive emotions as a result of Yoga practi ces  are  known  to  prevent various pregnancy complications and produces better outcomes.

(d): As the practice of vegetarian, satvik diet is based on the basic principles and theor &  Naturopathy.  The  booklet  repeatedly  highlights  the  importance  of a  balanced  diet  during pregnancy, as Yoga & Naturopathy doesn't advocate non - vegetarian food in its practice; hence, the said booklet suggests vegetarian food.

(e):Yes, there are ample research studies conducted across the world showed a beneficial e ts of  inculcating  positive  emotions  by  gaining  control  over  negative  emotions  such  as  an depression,  stress  etc  following  Yoga  based  practices  in  prevention  of  pregnancy  r complications and to have better pregnancy outcome. S ome of the studies are:

- Shi  Z,  MacBeth  A. The  Effectiveness  of  Mindfulness - Based  Interventions  on  Maternal Perinatal Mental Health Outcomes: a Systematic Review. Mindfulness (N Y). 2017;8(4):823 -847.
- Gong H, Ni C, Shen X, Wu T, Jiang C. Yoga for prenatal depression: a systematic review and meta- analysis. BMC Psychiatry. 2015 Feb 5;15:14.
- Deshpande  CS,  Rakhshani  A,  Nagarathna  R  et  a.. Yoga  for  high - risk  pregnancy:  a randomized controlled trial. Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2013 Jul;3(3):341 - 4.
- Narendran S, Nagarathna R, Naren d a  V et al., Efficacy of yoga on pregnancy outcome. J Altern Complement Med. 2005 Apr;11(2):237 - 44.

............

## Annexure

## Maternal Mortality Ratio(MMR), India, EAG & Assam, South and Other states, 2007-09, 2010-12 & 2011-13

| India & bigger States        | 2007-09                  | 2007-09     | 2007-09         | 2007-09   | 2010-12                  | 2010-12     | 2010-12         | 2010-12   | 2011-13                  | 2011-13     | 2011-13         | 2011-13   |
|------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------|--------------------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------|--------------------------|-------------|-----------------|-----------|
| India & bigger States        | Sample Female Population | Live Births | Maternal Deaths | MMR       | Sample Female Population | Live Births | Maternal Deaths | MMR       | Sample Female Population | Live Births | Maternal Deaths | MMR       |
| INDIA                        | 5678691                  | 436411      | 926             | 212       | 6169091                  | 430170      | 767             | 178       | 6155526                  | 430000      | 718             | 167       |
| Assam                        | 174250                   | 12303       | 48              | 390       | 195275                   | 12811       | 42              | 328       | 198242                   | 12975       | 39              | 300       |
| Bihar / Jharkhand            | 331294                   | 38096       | 100             | 261       | 371114                   | 38549       | 84              | 219       | 378927                   | 38925       | 81              | 208       |
| Madhya Pradesh / Chhatisgarh | 323937                   | 33041       | 89              | 269       | 353851                   | 32533       | 75              | 230       | 355339                   | 32465       | 72              | 221       |
| Orissa                       | 272797                   | 20616       | 53              | 258       | 293129                   | 19981       | 47              | 235       | 292951                   | 19929       | 44              | 222       |
| Rajasthan                    | 241249                   | 27277       | 87              | 318       | 269335                   | 26702       | 68              | 255       | 272496                   | 26658       | 65              | 244       |
| Uttar Pradesh / Uttarakhand  | 484847                   | 54039       | 194             | 359       | 542640                   | 53194       | 156             | 292       | 552032                   | 53383       | 152             | 285       |
| EAG AND ASSAM SUBTOTAL       | 1828374                  | 185372      | 570             | 308       | 2025344                  | 183770      | 472             | 257       | 2049987                  | 184335      | 453             | 246       |
| Andhra Pradesh               | 340520                   | 23003       | 31              | 134       | 357699                   | 22427       | 25              | 110       | 352221                   | 22600       | 21              | 92        |
| Karnataka                    | 376272                   | 22889       | 41              | 178       | 390941                   | 21909       | 32              | 144       | 382771                   | 21657       | 29              | 133       |
| Kerala                       | 287854                   | 14624       | 12              | 81        | 305268                   | 15351       | 10              | 66        | 295114                   | 15410       | 9               | 61        |
| Tamil Nadu                   | 388462                   | 22262       | 22              | 97        | 410769                   | 22622       | 20              | 90        | 404093                   | 22704       | 18              | 79        |
| SOUTH SUBTOTAL               | 1393108                  | 82778       | 105             | 127       | 1464677                  | 82309       | 87              | 105       | 1434199                  | 82371       | 77              | 93        |
| Gujarat                      | 280969                   | 24435       | 36              | 148       | 301207                   | 23552       | 29              | 122       | 298019                   | 23304       | 26              | 112       |
| Haryana                      | 165619                   | 14594       | 22              | 153       | 179220                   | 14243       | 21              | 146       | 178447                   | 14155       | 18              | 127       |
| Maharashtra                  | 323812                   | 21715       | 23              | 104       | 342534                   | 20684       | 18              | 87        | 335756                   | 20486       | 14              | 68        |
| Punjab                       | 193705                   | 12691       | 22              | 172       | 206148                   | 11988       | 19              | 155       | 204149                   | 11796       | 17              | 141       |
| West Bengal                  | 476579                   | 30291       | 44              | 145       | 526090                   | 29682       | 35              | 117       | 530544                   | 29623       | 33              | 113       |
| Other                        | 1016525                  | 64535       | 104             | 160       | 1123871                  | 63942       | 87              | 136       | 1124425                  | 63930       | 80              | 126       |
| OTHER SUBTOTAL               | 2457209                  | 168261      | 250             | 149       | 2679070                  | 164091      | 208             | 127       | 2671340                  | 163294      | 188             | 115       |