ʿAbbās—who, in his commentary on the divine words, “And upon those who are able to do it is a ransom: feeding a poor person” (2:184)—said: “The verse referred to the very old man and woman who are unable to fast: they may break the fast and, for every day, feed one needy person. The same ruling applies to the pregnant woman and the nursing mother when they fear.” Abū Dāwūd (2318) explained, “that is, when they fear for their children,” and al-Albānī declared the report authentic.

The Ḥanafīs and Mālikīs, however, hold that the pregnant and nursing women must make up the fasts but are not required to feed anyone. This is also the view of al-Ḥasan, ʿAṭāʾ, al-Nakhaʿī, al-Zuhrī, and was adopted by al-Awzāʿī and Sufyān al-Thawrī.

In truth, nothing definitively establishes that feeding is obligatory, and the original state is freedom from liability. Yet sound reports from Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn ʿUmar affirm that when the pregnant or nursing woman fears for herself or her child she may break the fast and must feed, for they considered these two cases encompassed by the noble verse, and no Companion is known to have opposed them.

Ibn al-Qayyim noted that Ibn ʿAbbās and others issued this fatwa, treating feeding as a substitute for fasting.

Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn (Ibn Taymiyyah) said: “She should break the fast, make it up later, and, for each day, give one ratl of bread with its relish.” This is the position of the majority of scholars, who maintain that the ruling of feeding remains in force for anyone unable to fast. Al-Tirmidhī stated: “This is the practice among the scholars: the two women break the fast, feed, and then make up the days.”

Benefit:
Those for whom fasting the month of Ramadan is not obligatory in the first instance fall into four categories.
First category: one who may break the fast but must later make it up. They are:

1. The sick person whose illness is expected to end and for whom fasting is hard.
2. The traveler covering the distance that permits shortening the prayer.
3. The person who breaks the fast to rescue someone whose life is inviolable.
4. The menstruating woman and the woman in post-partum bleeding.
5. The pregnant woman and the nursing mother when they fear only for themselves, or for themselves together with the fetus or infant.