Pregnant women, lactating mothers if medically fit can fast

Rawalpindi : Women during their pregnancy or lactation can fast in the holy month of Ramazan provided they are medically fit and are not suffering from any disease or infection and do not feel any discomfort under the fast.

In case of any complication or infection, the pregnant and lactating mothers should consult a qualified doctor before opting for fasting for a month in Ramazan. Similarly if a woman is suffering from diabetes or renal infection, she should not opt for fasting during pregnancy or lactation without prior advice from her doctor.

Dean and Head of Gynecology and Obstetrics Department at Rawalpindi Medical University Dr. Rizwana Chaudhry expressed this while talking to ‘The News’ on Monday.

She added that medically fit pregnant or lactating mothers can also face complications if they do not take proper food and fluids while fasting in the existing extreme hot weather conditions.

Majority of women face problems of nausea and vomiting generally in the first trimester, the first three months of pregnancy and if having severe complaints of vomiting and nausea, the pregnant women should not fast, she said.

Also the pregnant women having vomiting and nausea cannot take plenty of food and fluids at one time, which is necessary for fasting so the women who are unable to take sufficient diet should not fast, she said.

Dr. Rizwana, however, added that a woman in the first, second or third trimester can fast but with a condition that she can take proper food and fluids.

Talking of the complications, she said the most common complications among pregnant women across Pakistan are urinary tract infections and to prevent them, they should avoid dehydration while opting for fasting.

She explained that dehydration in pregnant women may cause DVT (Deep Venous Thrombosis) in which blood starts clotting in the blood vessels and the clots may travel directly to heart causing sudden death so pregnant women when fasting should take sufficient quantity of water at ‘Sehr’ and ‘Iftar’.

A pregnant or lactating mother, while fasting should take at least three glasses full of water during ‘Sehr’ to avoid dehydration, she said. Likewise, she should take plenty of fluids at the time of ‘Iftar’ and after before going to bed. “A pregnant woman or a lactating mother while fasting in Ramazan should take three liters of water on average daily.”

Also a mother during pregnancy or lactation should take high protein food including A class proteins found in fish, meat and chicken and B class proteins found in pulses and eggs and she should follow the same criterion while opting for fasting, said Dr. Rizwana.

However, a mother who is overweight should strictly avoid fats and carbohydrates as being overweight itself causes complications at the time of birth of the baby, she said.

If a woman during pregnancy can not have adequate quantity of food and fluids while fasting, her baby (fetus) might face severe growth retardation though initially the fetus growth might go normal but with the passage of time, it might decline, said Dr. Rizwana.