Another Rhogam Question

[August Mom]

In the other thread, I noticed several of you had multiple shots of Rhogam while pregnant. Under what circumstances is that needed? I'm curious because I had just one shot during the pregnancy (and would have had one after labor if DS would have been -). No shots beyond those 2 were ever discussed.

[COElizabeth]

With my first pg I had one at around 10 or 11 weeks because I had some spotting. It was a precaution to protect me against sensitization in case I was miscarrying. You also need one if you have amnio since there can be an exchange of cells then. If you don't have bleeding or amnio (maybe chorionic villi sampling, too?), I don't think there's any reason to have more than the one at about 27 or 28 weeks, plus one after delivery if baby is Rh positive.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
EDD #2, 10-30-04

[Tondi G]

I had two with DS... one during my pregnancy and one after he was born! I had additional Rhogam injections with each of my miscarriages!

~Tondi

[trumansmom]

I've had 2 miscarriages and had to have shots then. I also lost DD's twin and I think I had to have a shot then. And then I had bleeding later in the first trimester and had another shot. And then the one later on in the pregnancy, plus the one after her birth.

If everything goes normally, you shouldn't have to have extra shots.

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/29/01 and Eleanor 4/14/04

[jk3]

I had one after a d+c. I had one at 28 weeks + another after delivery so I'm assuming my DS's blood type is +. I really should know!

Jenn
DS 6/03

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030603/2/5/1/-5/.png

[Marisa6826]

If the Mom has a negative Rh factor, then you need to get a Rhogam shot any time there's a chance that Mother and Child's blood has mixed. This is to prevent the Mother from developing antibodies against a child with a positive Rh factor.

I got a shot when I had a subchorionic bleed and after my amnio.


-m

[pritchettzoo]

I had one after a m/c, bringing my total up to 3. I think you get one during pregnancy and then one afterwards if necessary. I think people's m/c shots were making the numbers look wonky.

Anna

[kitmama]

I had one after a miscarriage, one during the pregnancy and one after ds was born. So, in a normal case scenario, it looks like 1 or 2 shots is all you need.

[chrissyhowie]

If you have an Rh-negative blood type, this means that you do not have the D antigen (a type of protein) on the surface of your red blood cells. If the father of the baby is Rh-positive, then it becomes important to use Rhogam during your pregnancies (if the father is Rh-negative, then no Rhogam is needed for the mom at all!). If your baby turns out to also have an Rh-positive blood type, there is potential for you to produce antibodies against your baby's blood if the baby's red blood cells cross into the mother's bloodstream. This most commonly occurs at delivery, when the placenta detaches. But this can also occur when there is potential for the two bloods to mix, like at the time of miscarriage, after some kind of fall or trauma, or after some like of invasive testing which involves the amniotic cavity (like amniocentesis). This is where Rhogam comes into play. Rhogam is Rh immune globulin. It will bind to the D antigens on might be present on any fetal blood cells that may have transferred to the mom's system. This "masks" the D antigens so that the mom's immune system will not make her own antibodies against the baby's blood. In many ways Rhogam is more to protect your future pregnancies from your production of antibodies (because there's no going back once you've started to make them).

So the routine in the USA is to give Rhogam to an Rh negative mother (if the father of the baby is Rh-positive) at 28 weeks, then again after deliver only if the baby is Rh-positive. Additional shots would be given prior to or after 28 weeks if there was any bleeding or potential bleeding (like in the case of trauma or amniocentesis).

HTH,