EldonCard Failure??

[mom2mimi]

I have just found out that my son's EldonCard testing was wrong at birth, my midwife tested him and it came out to be B negative, just like mine. WE just had him retested after I had a miscarrige and was found to be sensitized, he is B positive. I am looking for anyone else that might have had this happen to them or knows anyone this may have happened to. I trust my midwife, she has delivered over 800 babies without anything like this ever happening, she is adamant that she did not make the mistake. She thinks the card was bad and is trying to get in touch with both the healthcare company she bought them from and the Eldon company themselves. She will no longer be using the tests as well. If any mamas or midwives have ever heard of this I would really appreciate hearing from you.

Julie

[Triciabn]

As someone who is negative and married to a negative and against all odds birthed a positive baby...(Oh yeah, and I really hate when people make the really not funny joke, "are you sure he's your husband's")...This is how the blood bank barely explained it to me... Asher is mostly positve with negative allelles <sp>. When my husband was born he was born negative with postive allele, so sayeth his mother. The blood bank also told me that over time I could check his blood again and it may turn up full blown negative.
Now granted when I "heard" all this my baby was one day old after a 36hour labor ... so I just tried to remember the important key words like "alleles".
I would suggest you research from that angle and not the "Eldon is wrong" angle. I think you will get a better line of information.
As far as you being sensitized.. you can have them run your titers and see if you are really sensitized. Also for the future your pregnancy will have to be more managed then I would be comfortable with.. but if you want more babies it is possible.
Tricia

[pamamidwife]

I don't use Eldoncards because the rate of error is so high. If you use Eldoncards, I suggest that people do THREE cards to be sure. Since it's' only $9 to send the blood to be typed in my local lab, that's what I do.

Wanted to add that I used to work at a company that sold the EldonCards and the company that makes them is clear that they are for educational purposes only - and not to be relied upon for blood transfusions or other important information.

I think midwives should send blood to the lab - if there is any question, the high rate of sensitivity with a lab is going to be more reliable, no matter how "good" the mw is at doing the EldonCards.

[mom2mimi]

[QUOTE=Triciabn]
As far as you being sensitized.. you can have them run your titers and see if you are really sensitized. Also for the future your pregnancy will have to be more managed then I would be comfortable with.. but if you want more babies it is possible.
Tricia[/QUOTE

I have been sensitized, as my titers have been run. We will be running them in three months since I just had a miscarrige and they need to wait for a bit to see if they go down. I would have said that I was uncomfortable too, with that level of management, before I started educating myself on my situation. It's possible to have an uneventful pregnancy after sensitization. It won't be as hand off as my last was (no ultrasounds or tests) but it doesn't have to be full of amnios or anything like that. The fact of the matter is, my heart and soul was ready for this baby to join our family and I just might have to compromise on a few things if I would like to try again. It's a decision I would never make lightly, and will make with much research and soul searching.