What DR is going to tell pregnant woman she can/should fast!

seeker

Tue, Aug 09 2011, 8:50 pm

I was OK'd to fast tisha b'av while pregnant, by both dr and rav. It was a normal pregnancy and a relatively low-risk time. (as opposed to later, when YK came out around 30 weeks and there's more chance of dehydration causing early labor so same dr and rav said to drink shiurim) I was told to rest up and reconsider if I felt bad, but I was OK.

Aribenj

Wed, Aug 10 2011, 12:14 pm

My doctor tells me to ask my rabbi....

My rabbi tells me to ask my doctor...

I like how no one wants to take responsibility...

Seriously though, my doc said that I should fast, but speak to a rabbi to see under which circumstances I can/should break the fast and how. From a medical perspective, everything was fine, pregnancy wise. He told me that unless I'm feeling contractions he doesn't see why I can't fast.

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, Aug 10 2011, 12:37 pm

DefyGravity wrote:

amother wrote:

I have not met one! Of course your doctor is going to tell you not to fast.

I was 28 weeks with a twins pregnancy last year on YK and both my (frum) OB and the (non-Jewish) doctor from MFM told me that I could fast, but should drink. I'm very upset that both of them told me that it wasn't a problem, as I started getting very strong contractions during the fast due to lack of hydration (my Rabbi told me to drink in shiurim every 3 minutes), and a few days later I landed in the hospital due to preterm labor.

This year I asked my PCP (Jewish, but not religious) about fasting while nursing twins, and thankfully he told me not to fast. He's the one I should have spoken to last year!

1. I have found nursing when fasting is much harder than pregnant when fasting.
2. TB is more lenient than YK.

MaBelleVie

Wed, Aug 10 2011, 1:03 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

DefyGravity wrote:

amother wrote:

I have not met one! Of course your doctor is going to tell you not to fast.

1. I have found nursing when fasting is much harder than pregnant when fasting.
2. TB is more lenient than YK.

I agree with both of HY's points.

Defy, you went into labor due to dehydration despite shiurim every 3 minutes? It's really hard when doctors and rabbonim give advice based on what they generally see (which is really all they can do, most of the time), when every woman is different. I'm sorry you wen through that.

amother

Thu, Aug 11 2011, 5:07 pm

Mirabelle wrote:

DefyGravity wrote:

amother wrote:

I have not met one! Of course your doctor is going to tell you not to fast.

I was 28 weeks with a twins pregnancy last year on YK and both my (frum) OB and the (non-Jewish) doctor from MFM told me that I could fast, but should drink. I'm very upset that both of them told me that it wasn't a problem, as I started getting very strong contractions during the fast due to lack of hydration (my Rabbi told me to drink in shiurim every 3 minutes), and a few days later I landed in the hospital due to preterm labor.

This year I asked my PCP (frum, but not religious) about fasting while nursing twins, and thankfully he told me not to fast. He's the one I should have spoken to last year!

When I was pregnant with my twins and asked my doctor about fasting he looked at me like I was insane (he is Jewish and traditional, but not Orthodox) and told me under NO circumstances should I fast because of the possibility of preterm labor.

Same here.My frum doctor and my Rabbi told me I had to drink (not only water but juices or milk ).
I was few weeks pregnant with twins on YK and fasting can actually reduce the level of blood your body brings to the uterus and put the whole pregnancy in danger (it is NOT only a matter of dehydration)

bnm

Thu, Aug 11 2011, 11:15 pm

when I was pregnant with my first, my frum dr said there is no issue with fasting on Tisha Bov- I did have contractions afterward so on Yom Kippur I had an IV and stayed in bed all day and made it.... the next pregnancy I 'knew' I was pregnant but the home pregnancy test only showed positive after Yom Kippur, I made sure to drink a lot of electrolytes before, I anyway don't eat a lot in early pregnancy (I lost 10 pounds this time) B"H I have a healthy baby now.