Due Date on Yom Kippur
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Question
My wife is pregnant. The official due date is on Yom Kippur (hopefully it will be earlier). My question is: a. Does she need to fast? The pregnancy is normal and hemoglobin levels are normal. (I should mention that we have a two-year-old daughter and need to take care of her, which makes fasting a bit more challenging...) b. Can I go to prayers with a phone in my pocket in case she calls...? I don't want to leave it in the synagogue from the eve of the holiday because I'm not sure if I'll wake up on time, etc... c. What should we do if she doesn't feel movements? Thank you.
Answer
Hello
A. When everything is normal, one should fast during pregnancy. Regarding the difficulty of taking care of the child, the husband should help so that the wife can fast, and beyond that, she should not exert herself at all and can pray while sitting.
B. You can take a phone in your pocket, agree between yourselves that if she feels the need to go to the hospital, she calls, and you do not answer, but return home immediately.
C. In case she does not feel movements, she should lie on her left side and try to see if there are indeed no movements. Sometimes due to fasting, the movements are less noticeable.
Lack of movements is not due to a lack of water, but a lack of sugar, so if she indeed does not feel movements, she should drink 'shiurim' of grape juice or other sweetened drink, 40 cc every 4 minutes, or eat a few pieces of chocolate [8 pieces of 'Para' chocolate from Elite, this is still within the permissible measure]. If it does not help, go to the emergency room.