The ruling on the blood of a pregnant woman in her last month and medical examination by insertion during Ramadan

The questioner : A woman asks: If a woman is pregnant and in her last month, and water comes out of her without any blood, does she have to pray? And what should she do regarding her fast?

The Shaykh : Is it valid?

The questioner : Or not?

The Shaykh : The scholars say that a pregnant woman does not menstruate, except that some women may continue to menstruate in the early months of pregnancy, continuing as they were. As for the last months, it is not possible for menstruation to come out of her. The doctors say that a pregnant woman never menstruates, and that menstruation is evidence of not being pregnant. This is what Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said. He said: Women only know they are pregnant by the cessation of menstruation.
In any case, regarding this woman who saw blood in her last month, we say that this blood is not menstruation, nor is it post-natal bleeding, and it does not prevent prayer or fasting, unless it is accompanied by labor pains. If it is at the time of delivery or two or three days before it, then it is post-natal bleeding. Because the labor pains and the proximity of this blood to delivery make this blood post-natal bleeding. And if it is post-natal bleeding, then she does not pray and does not fast.

The questioner : It is water.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes.

The questioner : Water comes out of her without blood.

The Shaykh : As for what comes out being water, this is not post-natal bleeding nor menstruation, even if it is accompanied by labor pains, because post-natal bleeding is the blood that the uterus releases at the time of delivery or two or three days before it. Yes.

The questioner : She has another question: Is it permissible for a female doctor to examine a pregnant woman during the day in Ramadan by what is called insertion, to determine the proximity of delivery and other matters?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible for the female doctor to examine the woman by insertion to see if her delivery is near or far. But as a precaution, we say that this should be done at night, so that it is done at night. Because some scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) say that anything that reaches the cavity breaks the fast, except what is through the urethra, which does not break the fast. Because the urethra does not expel in this way, as the jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) said. And the urethra is known; the urethra is the passage through the bladder, which is the reservoir for urine. Because the bladder receives things and nothing comes out of it except through the opening that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created. The bladder is like a sac, similar to the crop of a bird. Veins from the kidneys connect to it, pouring into it the excess water from food and drink. Then this water gathers in this sac, and when it is full, the person feels the need to urinate, and the urine exits through a single path directly to the outlet. If something enters from the outlet into this bladder, it does not break the fast, even though it is in the cavity. They said this because the bladder does not expel food, meaning nothing that enters it comes out of it; it is a reservoir, not a source. In any case, I say that this woman who needs the procedure called insertion should make it at night as a precaution. Yes.