Fasting Ramadan: What about pregnant and breastfeeding women and children?
Apart from chronic disease conditions, there are many health conditions that impose on their owners a special deal with fasting, which can cause a little confusion, as they are not diseases, but also we cannot consider their owners enjoying “health” in its general sense.
So, explains Doctor Amer Chikhoni, a cardiothoracic surgeon and editor-in-chief Your health siteThrough his interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, how to deal with these cases during the month of Ramadan, and when it becomes obligatory for the owners to break their fast.
pregnant woman
Many physiological changes occur in the pregnant woman’s body, the most important of which is an increase in blood volume due to the “different hormonal balances”, i.e. the hormones secreted by the mother and fetus that cause a slight rise in blood pressure and an increase in the activity of the circulatory system, which slightly increases stress on the heart. They are all natural changes, but they become difficult for a pregnant woman during fasting, so she is allowed to break the fast, taking into account her health and the health of her fetus. Normally, the fetus is not affected by the mother’s fasting, because the physiology of pregnancy is in favor of the fetus, meaning that it takes what it needs regardless of the mother’s condition.
“The mother may suffer from a nutritional deficiency, a lack of calcium or vitamin D. But the fetus gets what it needs. Fasting usually does not affect the fetus, but it may affect the mother,” says Sheikhouni.
Of course, the matter differs between the first and last months of pregnancy. Fasting during the first six months is possible because physiological changes are acceptable during that period. But it gets difficult in recent months.
Sheikhoni stresses that the mother should not fast if her health before or during pregnancy was not good, such as if she has uncontrolled diabetes, suffers from nutritional deficiencies, suffers from heart disease, and in cases of twin pregnancies due to the size of the fetuses and their needs, and pregnancy associated with complications such as increased amniotic fluid. who threatens miscarriage.
A healthy pregnant woman may also be exposed to some of the effects and complications that result from fasting, so she is advised to consult a doctor in the following cases: weight loss or failure to gain the expected weight, dehydration or urinary tract infections, feeling of nausea and vomiting, stopping the movement of the fetus, Feeling dizzy, weak, tired, or mentally confused.
breastfeeding mother
It is necessary for the mother to breastfeed her child until the age of six months, so the fasting of breastfeeding women may be impossible, because it may reduce the fluids in the body and thus the amount of milk available, and the breastfeeding mother has an increased appetite to eat and drink liquids, and this is normal to meet the needs of the infant . Therefore, medicine and religion permitted her to break the fast.
As for the older children who have begun to eat other food, in addition to breast milk, it is easier for their mothers to fast.
children
Some mothers hesitate to allow their children to fast the month of Ramadan, for fear that their abstention from food and drink will have negative effects on their health. Despite the difficulty of making the decision to fast or not, the decision on this issue is up to the parents, as they are, according to Sheikhouni, the best person to decide if the time is appropriate to encourage their child to fast or not, because the situation differs according to the child’s nature, age and health, as there are children with the structure of their bodies Weak and others have a strong structure, and there are those who rush to fast, while we see children who need encouragement from their parents.
It is preferable to take into account that fasting is not a process of torture or exhaustion imposed on the child, but rather that we try to make it something “favorable and beloved”, that is not exhausting and does not affect his health or school performance, as soon as he feels severe thirst or hunger or dizziness, lack of concentration or sweating It is severe or not urinating, so we do not let him complete the day’s fast, and the fast is gradual (not all at once) from the pre-dawn meal to the noon prayer, and from the noon prayer to the sunset prayer.
