Mothering Forum banner

Rh factor: negative mama, positive baby

3K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  sortacrispy 
#1 ·
Hi! I'm a first time mother planning a uc. Because Medicaid affords it & I enjoy the information/education/ultrasounds;) , I've been getting traditional obgyn care through my 33 weeks (without indicating my intentions to the doc ~ planning the "oops" method). Tests indicate that the fetal blood type is positive while mine is negative. Typically, they'd give me the shot at delivery to stop my body from forming antibodies, but as I (hopefully) will not be in hospital care at that point I am unclear what I'll need to do. Has anyone else dealt with this issue in a uc? I would greatly appreciate your experience! Thanks <3
 
#2 ·
We did. I'm rh negative and our third baby (rh positive, like all our others) was born unassisted. The midwife we had been working with dropped us when we decided to go unassisted for the birth, so we didn't have formal prenatal care from that point on.

I struggled with the issue a bit, but I talked to several people who had studied the issue in depth. As it was explained to me, in a gentle birth, where nothing unusual or traumatic happens (especially if the placenta stage is left alone - no rushing or pulling, etc), it is extremely unlikely the blood would mix. Even if the blood does mix, it isn't for sure that my body would start producing antibodies. And then, if I DID produce antibodies, it would have to produce enough for serious damage to occur to my next baby. So, statistically, the chance of serious complications for the next baby become slight.

With the rise of interference and traumatic hospital births, the problems from rh incompatibility became more common. Hence the development of Rhogam.

As in everything else in life and birth, there are risks either way and you have to decide which risks you will or won't take. The Rhogam shot has risks, too. For us, we had a simple birth, no red flags, the placenta fell out on its own within minutes and appeared to be a clean separation, so we decided it was unlikely enough we would have problems next pregnancy that we opted to skip the shot. I'm almost halfway through another pregnancy right now and it has been pretty easy with no indication of problems.

Personally, I would absolutely refuse any Rhogam shots before the baby is born because then it affects the baby (obviously, if you have any major trauma during pregnancy, that may be a reason to get it, but otherwise not). If you have been working with an OB at a hospital and you do an "oops", it would be easy enough to go see your doctor within the next couple days and get the shot if you want it.

Hope that helps!
 
#4 ·
I am dealing with this now, I am negative and my husband is positive I have had 2 unassisted births one I went in for the rhogam shot after birth and one I skipped (we transfered to the hospital after birth and I didnt want to go back and deal with that place again)I am currently pregnant again and having medical care which have told me I am RH sensitized. I am currently 19 weeks pregnant and terrified of what is going happen.
 
#5 ·
From what I understand, being rh sensitized doesn't necessarily mean there will be any complications. No one knows how many antibodies there need to be in the mom's blood to cause problems, and it probably varies from person to person. If you are really concerned, I would talk to the midwives at Indie Birth Association. They do free consultations over the phone and helped me a lot with this issue.
 
#7 · (Edited)
It will depend on the titre level and I would also say factors related to the baby. I've heard of mothers with lower titres who did have to go through IUTs (intrauterine transfusions), while others with higher levels did not. The only way to assess how well the baby is faring is through the MCA doppler scans that MFM specialists perform regularly through the pregnancy once titre levels are high enough to warrant seeing them. The threshold is also different&#8230;some OBs don't refer on until 1:16, while others will do it earlier or later.

I understand this is the UC forum, but having been through two sensitised pregnancies myself (rhogam failure), I would urge anyone who has been sensitised to consider further consultation with specialists who deal with HDN and Rh pregnancies&#8230;although mine went well with no issues or complications, I did have a lot of monitoring as things can go south very quickly.
 
#6 ·
Dealing with the same issue. This is baby #4 and I am Rh-.
With my 2nd baby I received the shot not knowing what it was even for! After research I found out that it contains human blood! The hospital very well knew that I don't receive blood products due to Bible based beliefs. ...yet they gave it to me anyways. So with my 3rd I didn't receive the test and haven't with this one either. I am doing a UP/UC and still in the back of my head worry that the worst will happen...but I also would never inject myself with human blood. The odds of something happening is so very small...especially with a natural intervention free birth
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top