Vaginal bleeding or trauma during pregnancy, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and abortion are the other situations where fetal blood can get into a pregnant woman's bloodstream, so a RhoGAM injection is given then as well. The RhoGAM injection should also be administered after any genetic testing that could result in mixing of maternal and fetal blood, such as chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis. (If your baby is Rh negative, no treatment is required.) Another dose is administered within 72 hours after delivery if blood tests show your baby is Rh positive. If you're Rh negative at 28 weeks, you'll get an injection of Rho(D) immune globulin (RhoGAM) to prevent antibodies from forming. Most practitioners use a two-pronged strategy. Preventing this antibody response in Mom is the key to protecting the fetus when there is Rh incompatibility. During the subsequent pregnancy, these antibodies could potentially cross the placenta into the baby's circulation and attack the fetal red blood cells, causing very mild (if maternal antibody levels are low) to very serious (if they are high) anemia in the fetus. That becomes a concern if she becomes pregnant again with another Rh positive baby. However, once a mom's natural protective immune response kicks in and produces antibodies during her first pregnancy or delivery (or abortion or miscarriage), they stay in her system. This incompatibility is usually not a problem in a first pregnancy because you don’t have antibodies to the baby's Rh factor yet. If your baby’s father is Rh positive, however, there's a significant possibility that your fetus will inherit the Rh factor from him, creating an incompatibility between you and your baby. That’s because two Rh negative parents can't have an Rh positive baby. If he turns out to be Rh negative, your fetus will be Rh negative too. If you test Rh negative, your baby's father will be tested to determine whether he's Rh positive or negative. Whether the fetus is Rh positive or Rh negative, there are no foreign antigens on fetal red blood cells to cause your immune system to mobilize against them. If you test Rh positive, as most of the population is, the issue of compatibility is moot. And if you turn out to be Rh negative, the problem is easy to treat. Rh factor screening is typically part of the initial prenatal blood workup.

That’s why it’s so important to get tested and, if needed, treat the problem.įortunately, finding out your Rh status is as easy as taking a blood test. Having Rh incompatibility can set the stage for problems, particularly if you’re planning on having more children later on. Noninvasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) Why is Rh factor testing important during pregnancy? But they could be dangerous later on if you become pregnant with another Rh positive baby.

At that point, the antibodies your body makes cannot harm your baby. It may sound scary, but Rh incompatibility only becomes a problem if you and your baby’s blood mix, most likely during birth. That can potentially cause a serious type of anemia and other health problems. Since red blood cells carry oxygen, this type of attack can make it hard for a baby to get the amount of oxygen she needs. If the baby’s Rh positive blood cells enter the mother's circulation, her immune system may view them as 'foreign' - and, in a normal immune response, mobilize armies of antibodies to attack these unfamiliar cells. Rh incompatibility is when a mom is Rh negative and her baby is Rh positive, which can cause problems during pregnancy. Whether you’re Rh positive or negative doesn’t matter much, except when it comes to pregnancy. In Asian people, the chances of being Rh negative are only around 0.3 percent. Negative Rh factor occurs in around 15 percent of white people and between 4 and 8 percent of Black people. If you carry the protein, you’re Rh positive. Rh factor is a type of protein often found on red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body. Here’s what you need to know about Rh factor testing, how the test works and what it means for your pregnancy if you’re Rh negative.

A negative blood type during pregnancy