Rh Incompatibility
One of the first prenatal tests your doctor will give you is a blood test to see if you are Rh negative or positive. Depending on the results, you and your baby may just not get along.
Friendly Blood
On the surface of many red blood cells is a protein commonly referred to as Rh factor. Those people with Rh factor are thought to be Rh-positive while those without it are, of course, Rh-negative. If you are Rh-negative (which means your blood cells don’t have Rh factor on them) but your child is Rh-positive (meaning your child does have Rh factor on their blood cells), your body’s immune system may attack your child’s blood cells, which can cause life-threatening complications.
Women who are Rh positive have little chance of an adverse reaction to their child’s blood. If, however, it is deemed that you are Rh-negative and there is a chance that your child is Rh-positive (i.e. if the father is Rh positive), then you and your baby will be at an increased risk for potential problems during your pregnancy. However, administering a vaccine-like injection of Rh known as a RhoGAM can help avoid these problems.
Get the Shot
RhoGAM, or Rh-immune globulin, is an injection given to Rh negative women during their 28th week of pregnancy and then again within 72 hours of birth, miscarriage, amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. This injection contains antibodies that will help kill off any of your baby’s red blood cells that may have entered your blood stream, thereby preventing your body from developing its own antibodies to your baby’s blood.
The "bad-blood" between a mother and her baby is usually only a problem after the first pregnancy. The mother’s immune system usually requires the first birth to prime itself against the Rh antigen, making subsequent births of Rh positive children dangerous. While RhoGAM will help you to avoid Rh problems in future pregnancies, it will be necessary to receive RhoGAM in all your pregnancies.
 |
Have a question about the prenatal tests you'll receive? Visit our What to Expect forum to get all the answers you need |
