How sound are the reports that the du‘aa’ of the pregnant woman is accepted?
Question

                In some chatrooms it is being said that the supplication (du‘aa’) of the pregnant woman is accepted. Is this correct or not?
Praise be to Allah.
	Firstly:

	Allah, may He be 
	exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

	“And 
	your Lord says, ‘Call upon Me; I will respond to you.’ Indeed, those who 
	disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible”

	[Ghaafir 
	40:60].

	According to the 
	hadith narrated by an-Nu‘maan ibn Basheer (may Allah be pleased with him), 
	“Supplication is worship.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (1479); classed as saheeh 
	by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

	So it is 
	befitting for the believer to offer a great deal of supplication at all 
	times, and to seek out the times when supplication is answered, for then it 
	is more likely to be answered. See the answer to question no. 22438.

	After 
	researching the matter, we could not find any evidence to suggest that the 
	supplication of the pregnant woman is answered; rather she is like any other 
	woman, unless what the questioner meant by pregnant woman was referring to 
	the time of labour and delivery, for that is included in the general meaning 
	of the evidence which indicates that supplication at times of hardship and 
	difficulty is answered, as in the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, 
	says (interpretation of the meaning):

	“Is 
	He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him and 
	removes evil”

	[an-Naml 
	27:62].

	Undoubtedly the 
	woman in labour is in one of the hardest and most difficult of situations, 
	so it is more likely that she will receive a response. For more information 
	on the circumstances in which supplication is answered, please see the 
	answer to question no. 22438.

	Shaykh Ibn 
	‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said concerning the situations in 
	which supplication is answered:

	… Another such 
	situation is that of distress. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, 
	answers the one who is in distress if he calls upon Him, for it is known 
	that the one who is in distress calls upon Allah with sincerity and 
	humility, and believing that Allah is able to relieve this distress, and 
	that is why the supplication of the one who is in distress is answered, even 
	if he is a disbeliever, as Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of 
	the meaning):

	“And 
	when they board a ship, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion…”

	[al-‘Ankaboot 
	29:65].

	End quote from
	Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb.

	And Allah knows 
	best.