Fasting in Ramadan While Pregnant or Breastfeeding

Maybe you are pregnant in a summer Ramadan with eighteen-hour fasts. Maybe you are breastfeeding a newborn and wondering whether you will cope. Maybe your family has always fasted through everything, and you feel torn between their expectations and your own body.

Here is the calm version of what Islam says, where scholars agree, where they differ, and how to make a safe decision. We won’t give you a ruling, and we won’t give you medical advice. Those belong with a scholar you trust and with your midwife or doctor.

The exemption in brief

The Qur’an builds ease into the fast itself:

Evidence · Qur’an

فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍۢ فَعِدَّةٌۭ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۚ وَعَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يُطِيقُونَهُۥ فِدْيَةٌۭ طَعَامُ مِسْكِينٍۢ

“So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day].”

Evidence · Qur’an

“Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.”

The Prophet ﷺ named pregnant and nursing women specifically:

Evidence · Hadith

إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى وَضَعَ شَطْرَ الصَّلاَةِ أَوْ نِصْفَ الصَّلاَةِ وَالصَّوْمَ عَنِ الْمُسَافِرِ وَعَنِ الْمُرْضِعِ أَوِ الْحُبْلَى

“Allah has remitted half the prayer to a traveller, and fasting to the traveller, the woman who is suckling an infant and the woman who is pregnant.”

The same hadith is in Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 715 (Hasan Sahih, al-Albani). So the starting point is mercy. If fasting is a real risk to you or your baby, not fasting is not a weakness of faith. It is following the concession Allah gave you.

Making up or feeding: the main views

This is where scholars genuinely differ. Here is a simplified summary of the main positions. Each school has more detail and conditions than fit here.

Imam al-Tirmidhi himself records this difference under hadith 715: some scholars said the pregnant and nursing woman break the fast, make up and feed, while Ishaq ibn Rahawayh said she feeds and has no make-up.

Since this is a matter of fiqh, ask a scholar you trust, ideally one who knows your situation. If you have been pregnant or breastfeeding for several Ramadans in a row, tell them, because it can change the advice.

What is fidyah?

Fidyah means feeding a person in need for each day missed. Many Muslim charities and mosques publish an amount each Ramadan based on the cost of a day’s meals where they work. You can pay through them or feed people yourself.

Talking to your doctor or midwife

Whether fasting is safe for you is a medical decision. Make an appointment before Ramadan if you can. Questions you might ask:

• Is there anything in my pregnancy (blood sugar, blood pressure, anaemia, the baby’s growth) that makes fasting risky for me?
• If I want to try, should I fast some days and not others?
• What should I eat and drink at suhoor and iftar to stay well?
• If I’m breastfeeding: how will fasting affect my milk, and how will I know my baby is getting enough?
• Which warning signs mean I should break my fast and call you?

Many health professionals in Muslim-minority countries are happy to have this conversation but may not raise it themselves. You are allowed to bring it up. In Muslim-majority countries, your doctor may be very familiar with it, and a scholar may already have given general guidance for your community.

When to stop

Agree your warning signs with your midwife or doctor in advance. Break your fast and contact your maternity unit or GP straight away if you feel faint, dizzy or confused, notice your baby moving less than usual, have pain, bleeding or contractions, have a severe headache, or are hardly passing urine. Your midwife may add others for your pregnancy. You will not be sinful for breaking a fast to protect yourself or your baby.

If you do fast

General points that health professionals commonly mention. Your own midwife or doctor’s advice comes first.

• Fast only with your health professional’s agreement.
• Don’t skip suhoor. Many women find slow-release foods and plenty of water help.
• Drink steadily between iftar and suhoor, rather than all at once.
• Rest during the hottest part of the day, and avoid heavy exertion.
• Keep your antenatal appointments, and keep taking any supplements or medicines you have been prescribed unless your doctor says otherwise.
• If you’re breastfeeding, watch your baby’s feeds, nappies and mood, and talk to your health visitor if anything changes.

Feeling Ramadan when you are not fasting

Not fasting can feel lonely, especially if everyone around you is. Ramadan is much bigger than the fast:

• Qur’an. Read or listen a little each day. A few verses with meaning is more than enough.
• Dua. The nights of Ramadan, and especially the last ten, are a time of dua. Pray for your baby by name, if you have chosen one.
• Charity. Give in your child’s name, even a small amount.
• Hosting iftar. Feeding those who are fasting carries its own reward.

Evidence · Hadith

مَنْ فَطَّرَ صَائِمًا كَانَ لَهُ مِثْلُ أَجْرِهِ غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ لاَ يَنْقُصُ مِنْ أَجْرِ الصَّائِمِ شَيْئًا

“Whoever provides the food for a fasting person to break his fast with, then for him is the same reward as his, without anything being diminished from the reward of the fasting person.”

• Family moments. Wake for suhoor with your family if it doesn’t disturb your sleep too much, and sit at the iftar table. If you have older children, they can learn from you that Islam is merciful. Our Ramadan activities for kids have ideas.

If you have just given birth, note that during nifas (postnatal bleeding) you don’t fast or pray, and you make up missed fasts later. See our guide to nifas and the first forty days. For more on the nursing years, read breastfeeding in Islam, and for the wider picture, our trimester-by-trimester pregnancy guide.