Fasting of the Pregnant and Nursing Woman and an Explanation of the Things That Break the Fast

Question:
The questioner asks: Does pregnancy and nursing alone make it permissible for a woman to break her fast? He also asks for a brief listing of the things that break the fast, even if just quickly.

Answer:
Yes. If pregnancy and nursing cause harm to the pregnant or nursing woman, or if fasting causes harm to her or to her fetus or her infant, then she may break her fast to avert the harm from herself or from her child. She must make up the missed days from other days. Many of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) issued a ruling to this effect. This falls under the category of excuses that make breaking the fast permissible, in order to avert harm from herself or her child.
As for the things that break the fast, they are divided into two categories: things that enter the body, such as eating, drinking, and medicines that are swallowed or drunk, as well as nutritional injections. These are internal things that naturally break the fast. The other category is things that exit the body, such as drawing blood from a patient, the blood of a menstruating woman or a woman with post-natal bleeding, or vomiting from the stomach through the mouth. These are things that exit the body and break the fast of the one fasting. Likewise, sexual intercourse; sexual intercourse also breaks the fast because it involves an exit from the body through ejaculation. Yes.