August 7, 2000
Gestational Diabetes
Question from North Dakota, USA:
I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at about 35 weeks. They put me on a diet and I have been able to control the diabetes with diet alone to this point. There are some mornings when I have ketones in my urine This doesn’t seem to concern my doctor very much, but concerns my dietitian. I am at 37 weeks now and would like to know what a small amount of ketones four times a week can do to the baby. I am trying to control the ketones, but don’t always have luck. This morning I had a high amount of ketones even through I did as the dietitian said to eat more before bed. I didn’t eat every well through out the day, because I was not feeling well. How will one morning of high amounts of ketones affect the baby?
Answer:
In gestational diabetes, ketones in the urine are not as significant as is the case in insulin dependent diabetes. During pregnancy, mild fasting (skipping a meal) may result in production of ketones. Usually, the amount of ketones in your blood is very low and of no effect on the fetus. Therefore, you may want to modify your food intake to more frequent but smaller meals (so you can still maintain your calorie limits).
OWJ
