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Pumping breast milk on Shabbat

שו”תCategory: HalachaPumping breast milk on Shabbat
asked 6 years ago

Greetings to the Honorable Rabbi,
A mother of a one-month-old baby, who is not at home on maternity leave but is a student and studies during the week. Every day she pumps breast milk with an electric pump so that the baby will have it for tomorrow. She produces a large amount of milk and if she does not pump for a long time, her milk will become engorged and the amount of milk for the next time will be reduced.
What is the ruling on pumping on Shabbat? Apparently, the milk must be spoiled in order for it to be a work of the Illach and a rabbinical prohibition, but is it permissible to save the milk that is milked on Shabbat for Sunday? I would point out that in principle the baby can breastfeed, and therefore this is not a matter of pikuach nefesh regarding Shabbat itself, but rather regarding the shortage that will occur on Sunday or the fact that due to not pumping, the normal amount of milk will be reduced.
thanks

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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 6 years ago

I think that in such a situation it is not permissible to pump, even if it is a rabbinic prohibition. However, if it causes her painful congestion, it is permissible to violate the rabbinic prohibition (pumping until lost. Preferably not with a tool, certainly not electric).
If she specifically has a special situation where the amount of milk will decrease if she doesn’t pump on Shabbat, this should be discussed separately. You can find some reviews with a simple search online.

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