Do pregnant women have to fast?
You do not need to fast during pregnancy. It is not compulsory. Islam permits you to not fast during Ramadan if you fear that fasting may endanger your child’s health. The Prophet (SAW) is quoted as saying: “God has relieved a travelling person from fasting and from half of his prayers, and He has relieved pregnant and breast-feeding women from fasting.”
However, if you feel strong enough, your pregnancy is going well and if you are in your second trimester, you may fast.
How can fasting affect your baby?
Enough studies have not been done to fully explain the results of fasting on pregnancy. However, research done so far, have shown that there was little or no effect on babies born to mothers who fasted during their pregnancy. Some studies may suggest that the academic abilities of children may be affected if their mothers had fasted while they were pregnant.
Babies born to mothers who fasted in the first trimester, may have slightly less weight but even that is a very small difference, about 18 to 40g less. Research shows that the Apgar score of babies born to mothers who fasted during pregnancy were not different from that of other babies.
Also there may be minor chemical changes in the blood of a woman who is fasting but these chemicals do not reach high enough levels to cause any damage to you or your baby.
Some research has also shown that mothers who fasted had premature deliveries or deliveries which were slightly earlier than normal. This claim has not yet been verified and needs further investigation before it can be substantiated.
How can fasting affect you?
An important factor is what kind of weather Ramadan takes place in. In very hot weather, pregnant women may develop dehydration and that may be a big concern. Also the longer hours may have some effect on your energy stores.
If you are healthy and were healthy before you got pregnant then it will be much easier for you to fast during pregnancy in comparison to other women. Your body will have enough nutrients in store to take care of your baby’s and your needs during the few hours you are fasting.
How you feel is more important than anything else. If you start feeling sick or weak, then you may break your fast. Speak to your gynaecologist before you start fasting.
Almost three-fourths of all pregnant, Muslim women fast and it is recommended by religious clerics to fast during pregnancy but they also say that if you feel unwell or you feel your child may be affected by it, you are given permission to not fast.
How can you prepare for fasting?
Be prepared for Ramadan by finishing your errands, Eid preparations and shopping well ahead of time. This will make Ramadan easier for you. Try to reduce your hours at work or try to work around your hours so that you can bring work home. This may make it easier for you to complete your work and fast at the same time.
See a doctor before Ramadan and do some tests to exclude diseases like diabetes, anaemia and pre-eclampsia. If you are diagnosed with diabetes before or during pregnancy, it is not recommended that you fast. Your blood sugar may suddenly fall and this might compromise your health and also that of your child’s. Anaemic mothers may feel weak and light-headed and even have accidents so it is also recommended that a very anaemic mother does not fast during pregnancy.
Keep a food journal during fasting to see what you’re eating and make sure you are getting enough nutrition. See a nutritionist before you begin fasting so that you can get a special diet chart to follow to make sure you eat well during Ramadan.
Reduce your consumption of coffee, tea (even green tea) and chocolate well ahead of Ramadan because they have caffeine and they tend to make you dehydrated. When you stop getting your caffeine buzz this can also affect your health by making you get headaches so train yourself for this. During pregnancy you should not have more than two cups of instant coffee daily which is about 200 mg of caffeine.
What to do during Ramadan?
Speak to those around you, friends and family and ask them about how they fasted. Keep calm, avoid stress. Take help when it is offered. Plan your day well so that you can rest. Go to bed early.
Don’t carry heavy objects, don’t walk long distances, stay at a cool place so that you don’t become dehydrated. Break your fast with healthy food. Make sure you get adequate protein for your baby’s health. You need to eat carbohydrates which slowly release energy like whole grains, brown flour, low GI rice, dates and other dried fruit. Have vegetables and fruits to avoid constipation.
Drink at least 1.5 to 2 Litres of water when you are not fasting. Avoid things that are rich in sugar as they will make your blood glucose shoot up and then fall down. This can make you feel dizzy. Do not miss sehri at any cost. Always make sure you have sehri
You can consider having a late night dinner as well before bedtime. But even then you cannot miss sehri.
When to see the doctor? Immediately if…
Your baby is not moving much or kicking. You feel contraction-like pains in your abdomen which appear at periodic intervals. This may mean you are in labour. If you are feeling weak and drowsy even after being well rested, break your fast with ORS or any sweet drink.
When possible, if:
You become nauseous and you start vomiting. You become very thirsty, pass very dark urine or very small amount of urine. This means you may have developed dehydration so you will have to break your fast. Strong smelling or dark urine may eventually lead to urinary tract infection and this may be very dangerous for your baby.
You stop gaining weight or you lose weight. Weigh yourself at home and maintain a chart as this may be a good indicator of how your body is coping with the pregnancy.
You develop headaches, a fever or any other ache in the body.
What to do if you are not fasting?
If you cannot fast during Ramadan then you can compensate by feeding a poor person on the number of days that you did not fast, however, you do not need to fast later on.
