I regularly feed my newborn baby. I wanted to know if stains of breast milk make ablution necessary or not? If a nursing woman wants to abide by her prayers, how much cleanliness of the clothes is necessary? If the mothers clothes are soaked with milk or with the baby’s urine, does this make a bath necessary; or changing of clothes will suffice?

Strains of breast milk do not make ablution necessary. The cleanliness required for nursing women depends upon the state of her clothes. If the mother’s clothes are soaked with breast milk or with the baby’s urine and if the area affected is not much, then washing them without taking them off or changing them is enough. Having a bath is no requirement.

In other words, the Sharī‘ah does not impose any restriction on a nursing mother as far as doing wudu or having a bath is concerned. It leaves it to her comfort and satisfaction.