Section 9 in The Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles And Infant Foods (Regulation Of Production, Supply And Distribution) Rules, 1993
9. Details of information intended to reach pregnant women or mothers of infants through education or other materials
.-(1) Every educational or other materials, whether audio or visual, dealing with pre-natal or post-natal care or with the feeding of an infant and intended to reach pregnant women and mothers of infants shall, besides the information specified in clauses (a) to (f) of sub-section (1) of section 7, shall include:(a)the following details of advantages, as also nutritional superiority of breast-feeding:-(i)immediately after delivery, breast milk is yellowish and sticky. This milk is called colostrum, which is secreted during the first week of delivery. Colostrum is more nutritious than mature milk because it contains more protein, more anti-infective properties which are of great importance for the infant 's defence against dangerous neo-natal infections. It also contains higher levels of Vitamin "A ";(A)is a complete and balanced food and provides all the nutrients needed by the infant [for the first six months of life] [ Substituted by G.S.R. 959(E), dated 19.12.2003 (w.e.f. 1.1.2004).];(B)has anti-infective properties that protect the infants from infection in the early months;(C)is always available;(D)needs no utensils or water (which might carry germs) or fuel for its preparation;(iii)breast-feeding is much cheaper than feeding infant milk substitutes as the cost of the extra food needed by the mother is negligible compared to the cost of feeding infant milk substitutes;(iv)mothers who breast-feed usually have longer periods of infertility after child birth than non-lactators;(ii)breast milk-(b)details of management of breast-feeding, as under:-(i)breast-feeding-(A)immediately after delivery enables the contraction of the womb and helps the mother to regain her figure quickly;(B)is successful when the infant suckles frequently and the mother wanting to breast-feed is confident in her ability to do so;(ii)in order to promote and support breast-feeding the mother 's natural desire to breast-feed should always be encouraged by giving, where needed, practical advice and making sure that she has the support of her relatives;(iii)adequate care for the breast and nipples should be taken during pregnancy;(iv)it is also necessary to put the infant to the breast as soon as possible after delivery;(v)let the mother and the infant stay together after the delivery, the mother and her infant should be allowed to stay together (in hospital, this is called "rooming-in ");(vi)give the infant colostrum as it is rich in many nutrients and anti-infective factors protect the infants from infections during the few days of its birth;(vii)the practice of discarding colostrum and giving sugar water, honey water, butter or other concoctions instead of colostrum should be very strongly discouraged;(viii)let the infants suckle on demand;(ix)every effort should be made to breast-feed the infants whenever they cry;(x)mother should keep her body and clothes and that of the infant always neat and clean.
