Is Fasting Appropriate For Pregnants?
This is a subject that many pregnant women and their families wonder about during Ramadan. It is a question asked by many of our pregnant patients because of the comfort of performing their religious worship on the one hand, and the anxiety of the baby being affected by hunger on the other.
When we look at the medical information resources on the subject, we see the following:
Fasting does not have as negative effects on the health of the mother and baby as it is thought. Only in some publications it has been reported that it may cause the baby to be born with a lower birth weight.
This is also an important situation. Low-weight babies have more prolonged jaundice, need for intensive care, and respiratory problems after birth.
Beyond that, fasting does not cause disability in unborn babies, etc. There is no such thing as permanent damage.
However, we do not have enough medical information about the effects of fasting on pregnant women and their babies. For this reason, we do not recommend that pregnant women fast during Ramadan.
Logically, it is not appropriate for a mother carrying a baby in her womb to experience dehydration and starvation for long hours and on hot days.
Protein, carbohydrate, fat, mineral, vitamin and trace elements need to be transferred from mother to baby in a balanced and uninterrupted manner. Fasting in the summer months will inevitably affect this process.
In addition, there is fasting hypoglycemia in pregnant women. In other words, tolerance to hunger decreases during pregnancy. Therefore, the potential burden of fasting will be higher in pregnant women.
It is not my area of expertise, but as it is known, fasting can be made up or ransom given in the presence of religiously justified excuses.
One last point, yes, we will not fast as pregnant women, but we should not overdo it while eating from the rich Ramadan tables.
Desserts that we don’t eat every day will be on the tables for a month during Ramadan. We should be stay away from these sweets.
Let’s not delay our daily 30-40 minute walks this month.
I wish all our mothers and mothers-to-be a healthy day.
Prof. Dr. Yavuz ŞİMŞEK