question for the rhesus neg mummies

[EsJay]

Hi ladies, im wondering if anyone who is rhesus negative can give me some advice please?

I am rhesus negative and had shots during my last pregnancy (after my amnio and again after a bleed) but wasnt given one after the birth, so i assume dd has a negative blood type too.

My question is, as i didnt have a shot after her birth, do my chances of producing antibodies increase this time round and should i ask for a shot?

I meant to talk to my gp about it but dd screams the place down everytime we go to the dr so spent the whole appt trying to talk to the dr, calm dd, and try to make out everything the dr was saying as i could barely hear him over dd and he has a very strong accent so its not easy at the best of times and basically i forgot to ask in all of that. My next appt is not for 4 weeks, and i dont want to wait that long not knowing.

i am probably stressing over nothing, any advice or experiences other rh- mummies have had with subsequent pregnancies would be great, thanks.

[NaeNae]

I am Rh- and as far as I know I still have to have the injections for EVERY pregnancy, as every pregnancy is different and babies blood types can be different ITMS??

I hope this helps

Nae x

[Ilithyia]

I am Rh- and as far as I know I still have to have the injections for EVERY pregnancy, as every pregnancy is different and babies blood types can be different ITMS??

I hope this helps

Nae x

Yep thats right.

You need to have the Anti-D with every pregnancy because as Nae mentioned, there is always the possibility that baby may have a different blood type.

I'm also a Negative and have had Anti-D with all pregnancies - losses included.

[Jellyfish]

You do have to have injections every pregnancy (as long as your partner is +) but it is only something that needs to be done at high risk times (such as after a bleed or amnio) or in the third trimester. If your daughter is negative (and it sounds like she is) then you wouldn't have developed antibodies last pregnancy and therefore pose no risk to this one, it is only if this bub is positive then you could develop antibodies that would pose a risk to future pregnancies as far as I'm aware?

[Ilithyia]

...but it is only something that needs to be done at high risk times such as after a bleed or amnio or in the third trimester

Sorry but this isnt accuate.

As a negative Mother, you will have Anti-D at 28, 34 weeks and after birth depending on babies blood type.

But as Jellyfish did state, you will also require it should you have any spotting or bleeding during the pregnancy.

[Jellyfish]

Is 28 weeks (and 34) not the third trimester? My main point was to reassure it wasn't something that needed urgent attention.

[Ilithyia]

My apologies...I just re-read your post.

I read it as if you were saying you only needed the injection at high risk times.

Although I wouldn't really consider the 3rd trimester a "high risk time"

My apologies

[~StarBright~]

You do have to have injections every pregnancy (as long as your partner is +)

They actually make you have them even if you have a blood test to show that your partner is negative.. JIC mummy was DTD on the side with someone else!!! lol DH wanted to get his BT checked to save me having to get the injections, but they told him not to bother, as even if he was Neg, I would still be advised to have the shots

Lucky I did lol, turnes out DH is 0 POSITIVE lol as are both our babies And I had no extra shots with DD pregnancy - even after having DS be positive. Just the usual 28 and 34 weeks. They do test for antibodies once bub is born if they are positive, I dont remember the exact results with the kids, but it was all ok!!

[BellyBelly]

Rhesus Negative Blood Group in Pregnancy

I think its unbelievable really. I happened to pick a high risk, fertility specialist Ob, and he never made me have any jabs during pregnancy, as he said, if I don't know if I am bleeding, how will I know when to have it within 72 hours? I honestly think its a money grabbing thing from big pharma.

[Jellyfish]

They actually make you have them even if you have a blood test to show that your partner is negative.. JIC mummy was DTD on the side with someone else!!! lol DH wanted to get his BT checked to save me having to get the injections, but they told him not to bother, as even if he was Neg, I would still be advised to have the shots

Lucky I did lol, turnes out DH is 0 POSITIVE lol as are both our babies And I had no extra shots with DD pregnancy - even after having DS be positive. Just the usual 28 and 34 weeks. They do test for antibodies once bub is born if they are positive, I dont remember the exact results with the kids, but it was all ok!!

They can't make you have it and I'm pretty shocked doctors would even try to force the issue if a woman is confident about her sexual history, that just sounds horrible to me and something I would not be happy about! I've been asked the father's blood type both times and if they were negative then haven't been pressured to have it at all (my bubs have different biological dads) so I guess it depends on who you are seeing. They obviously explain that if you have been with somebody else/somebody else could be the father and they are positive then there are the risks etc but most woman are aware who they have slept with and can make the decision to not have it imo and I would be highly offended if a health professional tried to suggest otherwise. I was offered to be tested for antibodies this pregnancy (even though my DD is negative) as you can have missed miscarriages etc but when I explained that this bubs was conceived the first cycle I've had sex since my daughter they were happy with that. (Seeing a Private Ob).

[~StarBright~]

Yeah, sorry your right Jellyfish, they absolutely can not MAKE you have it.. I used too strong words there! And to be honest, there is darn good reason NOT to have it in some cases.. when I first found out WHAT it actually was, I was a bit scared, but went along with it. Personally I am ok that I had it after having two positive bubs (even though the antibody tests were both ok) If I knew for sure that my DH was neg, and that he was the Daddy, I wouldnt have it. Luckily for me though we didnt take my DH's word for it

I do think that the midwife who said that to us was also kind of having a little joke with us.. and also coz DH was having one of his little raves where he said he was sure he was O Neg, and I think the midwife explaining that kind of situation (daddy not being "daddy") was having a bit of a joke at DH and trying to get him to see that they cant just take joe blows word that he was O neg (or maybe she saw the fright in my eyes with Dh just guessing his BT lol) ANYWHO- I went along with it, had the shots and DH didnt bother getting his BT tested and we had O positive babies

[EsJay]

yep i intend to have it, but im concerned that as i didnt have one after dd was born that i might need one earlier than the scheduled ones.
dr google wasnt much help, telling stories of women who m/c repeatedly in subsequenty pregnancies as they hadnt had a shot in early pregnancy and the body responded quicker to the 'foreign' object.... i know i shouldnt consult dr google, but i did and now i freaking out

[Jellyfish]

You posted while I did but if your daughter is negative then you wouldn't have developed antibodies so there shouldn't be any risk to this bub or need for earlier intervention

[EsJay]

thanks jellyfish, that makes a lot of sense, easing my fears... just a little

[Butterfly Dawn]

Im neg and have had anti D with most of my preggys. However I had a miscarridage and D&C with no anti D afterwards (its an illegal blood product here for some stupid reason) so the hospital couldnt give me anti D. This baby we bought Anti D from HK rare blood org and they said- best results were to have a shot at 30 weeks and after birth. doubling up on shots in 3rd tri showed no added safety.
WE had alot of trouble getting my Anti D shot after baby for legal reasons, but hospitals here were very interested as here RH Neg mothers have alot of trouble getting to term or producing healthy babies. So hopefully our information (it was weird teaching the drs about something) have saved some families heartache.
But it is stil a personaly thing, some mothers choose to take the risk and not get the shots. I have always had my shots (when I can)

[Epacris]

It depends on the blood type of the father of the baby.

I am O –ve, this means I have two –ve genes. My husband is O +ve, this means he has either two +ve genes or one +ve and one –ve gene, +ve is the dominant gene.

The baby inherits one gene from each parent. In my case it is possible for my babies to be –ve or +ve. They will only inherit a –ve gene from me but they can inherit a +ve or -ve gene from my DH.

If both you and the father of your baby are –ve, your baby can only be –ve. In these cases it is unnecessary to have any anti-D injections. Care givers usually still give them anyway because they are either unsure of the blood type of the father or they unsure that father is the father IYKWIM. If it were me and my DH was –ve I would be refusing all anti-D injections because I don’t believe in using blood products unnecessarily (however, in my case my DH is +ve).

My DS1 was –ve like me so I refused the post birth anti-D injection because it would have been unnecessary. I accepted the two during pregnancy because I didn’t know my baby’s blood type at that stage and it could have been +ve. My DD and DS2 are both +ve and again I didn’t know their blood types in utero so I accepted the anti-D shots while pregnant. I gratefully accepted the anti-D shot after DD was born but I ummed and ahhed about refusing the anti-D shot after DS2 was born. I am sure he is my last baby so if there were any anti bodies in my system it would not matter because I am not planning to have any more children. But I accepted it anyway just in case.

If you are going to refuse an anti-D shot you should be thoroughly aware of the mechanism of blood type inheritance and absolutely sure of your partner’s blood type and paternity.