Ok so here's a question - hubby asked me last night your blood group is rhesus negative - does that not mean you need to be immunised? So your body doesn't try to attack any foreign bodies. Or is this only once you know your pregnant? Or further down the line? The nurse isn't in the clinic until Monday so I can't find out until then.
Does what I'm asking make sense?
Written by
samrakkar
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I'm rhesus negative too. If you get pregnant you'll need to have anti D injections throughout the pregnancy. They hurt a bit as there are intramuscular but nothing to worry about.
Basically if you are rhesus negative (R-) and your husband is rhesus positive (R+), there is a chance that your baby will be rhesus positive. This means that if any of the babies (R+) blood gets into your (R-) blood, your immune system will start to attack. In a first pregnancy this is rarely an issue as your immune system would take a long time to build up enough antibodies to really be an issue. However it would mean that for a second pregnancy with a (R+) baby, if those antibodies are in your body your chance of miscarriage is higher.
So, for this reason, during your first pregnancy if you are (R-) they give you a jab to prevent your immune system from doing this. This then protects both the current and future pregnancies. Also once the baby is born they will take some blood from the cord and test it, and if it is indeed R+ they will offer you another jab.
There is no impact on you, the baby or anything else, and as long as you get the jab it is absolutely nothing to be concerned about.
thank you! When my mother in law had her second baby(my husband) 30 years ago I don't know if it was any jab. maybe it was medication to help ypu with the pregnancy anyway there is nothing we can do now. we will have to move on to IVF with a donor.
I am rhesus negative - where I live they do a jab at 28 weeks. I had to have a further jab as I had a spot of bleeding at around 32 weeks (just thrush which had irritated my cervix but none the less) but basically if you have any incidents of bleeding or are involved in any accidents for example a car accident or a fall then you would need another jab. You can have as many as required it is donated from human plasma. Once baby is born they do a blood test on them to see whether they are negative or positive. Really its more for any future pregnancies. So this is my first pregnancy and if I was not treated and the baby I am carrying now happens to be rhesus positive then my body will build up an immunity so if I got pregnant again and that baby was rhesus positive my body would try to attack it. It doesn't have any bearing on babies health or your health. Its interesting if anything! xxx
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.