Pre-Ramadan health seeking behavior, fasting trends, eating pattern and sleep cycle in pregnant women at a tertiary care institution of Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To observe the pre-Ramadan health seeking behavior, fasting trends, eating pattern and, sleep cycle in pregnant women. METHODS: It is a cross-sectional observational study, from July to September 2017, conducted at Tertiary Care Hospital in Karachi. The tool used for data collection was interviewer based closed ended questionnaire, 279 pregnant women who fasted during Ramadan were included in the study. RESULTS: One to ten days of fasting was observed by 85.7% (198) of women. About 72.4% (202) never consulted any doctor for pre-Ramadan advice regarding fasting in pregnancy. Pregnant women 81.7% (228) believed that fasting would not cause any harm to their unborn child, while 42.7% (119) of family members feared about the health of mother and unborn child. Seventy four percent (208) of respondents had a reduced sleep cycle of about 3-4 hours. The food items consumed at Sehri and Iftar were rich in carbohydrates and fats. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-Ramadan medical consultation regarding safety of fasting during pregnancy should be structured and customized for women and their families. Gaps in knowledge identified in this study may help healthcare professionals to address these issues.