# Are ketones in urine harmful to baby?



## silver lady

As the above asks.

Replies greatly appreciated :flower: XO XO R.


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## silver lady

any one???


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## silver lady

bump


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## LegoHouse

Nope.

Your body is starving itself but the only person who will suffer is you. Not that that's a good thing... lol


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## silver lady

LegoHouse said:


> Nope.
> 
> Your body is starving itself but the only person who will suffer is you. Not that that's a good thing... lol

Actually its due to diabetes! I just wanted to know thats all.
x


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## LegoHouse

Oh right! Mine were because I was so sick! They never hurt my daughter though x


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## Cata

Didn't want to read and run,

I asked my brother who works in a lab and he said Ketones may indicate that start of GD or simply mean that you are dehydrated. he mentioned that drinking lots of water helps in most cases.

i'm sorry i don't have more accurate info :flower:


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## Miss Broody

I had ketones earlier this week when in hospital. I have GD. No they are not a risk to the baby, but anything that is not optimal for you will not help the baby for delivery etc!! x


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## Charlie5

I had them a lot with my son as was soo sick couldn't keep anything down. he was just fine tho.


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## LDC

Here is some info adding to what others have said;

Ketones are produced when the body starts breaking down stored or ingested fat for energy. This can happen when you're not getting enough carbohydrates (your body's usual source of energy).
If you're suffering from severe nausea and vomiting or you've lost weight, your practitioner may check your urine for ketones. If your ketone reading is high and you can't keep any food or liquid down, you may need intravenous fluids and medication. If ketones are found in combination with sugar, it could be a sign of diabetes.

Ketones in the urine during pregnancy is a health concern which some women experience during those crucial nine months. Although it is not a high risk pregnancy complication, studies reveal that it can be a cause of worry. But what exactly are ketones? Well, ketones are substances derived from fat breakdown and are used by the body as a source of energy under emergency circumstances, like starvation or glucose deficiency in order to survive. In other words, ketones in the urine are formed when the body's fat reserves are used to generate energy.

Basically, our body gets its energy from the food we eat which gets converted into glucose or blood sugar and it is insulin which provides an easy access to this blood sugar. During pregnancy, the placental hormones make the body resistant to insulin which subsequently restricts the body from getting glucose from the blood in to the cells. Hence though the blood will be enriched with blood sugar, the cells will be deprived of the required energy. As a result, the cells start accessing other energy sources like the fat stores or reserves in the body, resulting in ketones as the by-product of this entire process. But what are the various causes for protein and ketones in the urine during pregnancy?

Causes
There can be various factors that may contribute to large ketones in the urine during pregnancy; dehydration, bad diet to name a few. Others are enlisted below:
Not getting enough calories from the food you are eating
Long time intervals between meals
Skipping meals or snacks
Gestational diabetes
Nausea, poor eating habits or throwing up
Insulin resistance from hormones as a result of which, the body is unable to access blood sugar
Testing
Ketone testing is very much different from normal urine sugar tests, hence you can either ask your health care provider to do so or different ketone sticks are available in the market which can be used for ketone testing. For optimum results, it is better to use first morning urine sample for testing as due to long overnight fast the blood sugar levels drop and the body starts looking for fat stores as a source of energy which results in giving off or spilling of ketones in urine.

Prevention
Though it is always recommended to consult a doctor for this problem, in order to prevent ketones in general, you should avoid skipping meals or having long gaps between each meal and should eat after every 3 to 4 hours during pregnancy. Also, try having a good bedtime snack which should be rich in proteins and starch. This is because protein slows down the absorption of carbohydrates which benefits by making energy available to the body for a longer duration of time. Also, remember not to keep more than 9 to 10 hours between your bedtime snack and breakfast as this will lower the risks of having ketones. Hence, consider having small frequent meals high in proteins and starch in order to avoid ketone in urine during pregnancy.

To conclude we can say that occasional traces of ketone bodies in urine during pregnancy do not seem to be a very serious problem, unless there are larger amounts or frequent bouts of ketones in urine. Hence, whether trace ketones in urine during pregnancy is dangerous or not is still debatable as some studies emphasize that women with large amounts of ketones spilled in urine during pregnancy may have babies with learning disabilities or reduced IQ later in life. However it always better to be on the other side of caution, hence, regular monitoring of the first urine in the morning for ketones by a midwife or doctor, especially in women having gestational diabetes, can help preventing as well as treating this health ailment.


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## MandyV

I had ketones in my urine this pregnancy and my last due to being dehydrated increase your water :)


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## Chalrhow

I dont think they are harmful to baby, i had ketones in my blood and urine a few weeks ago and was admitted to hospital and put on a drip... I also have G.D and it was because of the G.D i had the ketones. You should say to your midwife or diabetic nurse on monday just to be on the safe side !


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## C_baby

Having an occassion + for ketones in pregnancy (especially as you have GD) is not uncommon. However it may be a sign that your diabetes is not being managed properly, the best thing to do is to make sure you take to your doctor/midwife about it, and keep a close eye on it as it is common for ketones to increase the further into third trimester you are.

*Large continuous* amounts of ketones in urine are very dangerous as it can lead to complications such as Diabetic Ketoacidosis which, although more common with type 1 diabetics, can occur in GD! But this would be at the extreme end of the scale - If you keep an eye on it, keep your diabetes controlled and make sure you're eating properly and drinking plenty it's unlikely to become a problem.


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