Seeking Input on the RhoGAM Injection

HI,
My best friend has the issues with her pregnancy. She has two children, her first one she did have the shot, Shes beautiful healthy and a little crazy:) The second pregnancy she decided against and lost the baby.... her third pregnancy she had the shot and has a healthy handsome son..... Also my aunt lost 3 pregnanys at 7 and 8 mos before they started giving the shot she finally had a sucessful delivery the 4th time around with the shot... DEFINATLY GET THE SHOT!

Hi A. -

I've had the RhoGAM shots with both of my children and have no problems - for me, or for either of my kids. I have seen the effects of NOT having the RhoGAM shot though (a second cousin whose mother did not have RhoGAM shots when she should have - the cousin has some odd characteristics and a unique condition that seems kind of like mild retardation) and would not recommend taking that risk. My advice would be to follow the doctor's recommendation - good luck!

my sister is RH - she had to have it....she made the mistake of not getting it with her 1st preg and she wound up loosing one of her twins due to her body absorbing it....so after that with every preg she had it and has 7 healthy kids. so i would recommend her getting the shot.

M.

Hi A.,
When I was pregnant with my daughter I had to have the shot because I am A-. I was told it was a necessity due to the negative blood type so my body wouldn't reject the baby if she were a positive blood type. I was not aware that there was mercury in it and so far my daughter is a typical 2 yr old. When she was born, they tested her blood type and she was A- also. Had she been positive, I would have needed a second shot to counter the positive blood cells. If dad is negative or positive it doesn't matter, only what type mom is determines if the shot is needed or not. Hope this helped ;)

You've had lots of comments on this one and I will just add that I am Rh neg. and my husband is pos. I had to get the shot when I Was pregnant with each of my three children and after I had a miscarriage. I had to have shots after the birth of my first and third children's delivery because they are Rh positive. There were no negative effects for any of us. The benefits FAR outweigh the risks. We're talking life and death of the baby here. She needs to get the shot if she wants to protect her future babies!
Also, if both parents are Rh neg, there is no need for the shot. What RhoGAM does is prevent the mother for developing antibodies that will attack Rh positive cells. A mother is unlikely to have developed these antibodies during the first pregnancy because her body has not yet been exposed to Rh pos blood, but there can be an exchange of blood between a mother and her baby that can affect future pregnancies without the RhoGAM to prevent this from happening.
Good luck to your sister with her pregnancy!

Here's a very different scenario that should put your fears to rest. I was given the shot with both pregnancies because the doctor's office read my 0+ blood type as 0-. It was hand written at the time and someone misread my chart. I didn't have any problems nor did my sons. It wasn't until years later and I was donating blood and the Red Cross told me I was 0+. I corrected them and told them I was 0- they must be wrong in reading my blood type.
They retyped my blood and I was in fact 0+. I was very angry about the mistake and later checked with my OB-GYN, however, rememer this was years later. They then saw the error, corrected it on my chart but I was well beyong having more children. There was no harm to any of us that I could ever determine and my boys are very healthy to this day. I guess she should just make sure she is getting what she needs and that her doctor's office has her recoreds straight!

S.

I've had 3 of them. It burns but the other option is possible health problems, misscarage or death of the next child more so than the first.

What happens when one parent is positive and one is negative there is a chance the baby will be the opposite of the mom. Because of this the mom's body may see the fetus as a forein antibody and it needs to be attacked. When the baby is born, the doctor's will check the baby's blood type and if it is the same as mom's she won't need another one. I had one when I was pregnant with my son and then after he was born, I'm negative he is positive. Then my last one was when I was pregnant with my daughter, but she is negative same as me, so didn't need another one. It was one of the few things that I gave in on when I refused to do the amnio with my daughter. BTW, I should also say that neither of my children are vaccinated, because of health reasons. All vaccinations have warnings that if you have certain herediarty issues you should be careful or not vaccinate...my family has several of them.

Good luck I think this is one of those that is the lesser of two, with better results.

Chelle E.

I have had 3 of the shots. Two with ectopic pregnancies and one with the last pregnancy I had. It doesn't matter if both parents are o-, the baby's blood could be o+. Both of my parents were o+. The shot is for the protection of the baby and any more baby's. Without the shot the mother's body builds anti-bodies against the different blood type. I have not had any ill effects with the shots.

S.

Here's what I found:

What Does It Mean to Be Rh-Negative?

Being Rh-negative means you don't have a certain protein ("D antigen" or the Rh factor) on the surface of your red blood cells. If you do have it, you're Rh-positive. So the terms “Rh-negative” and “Rh-positive” are really just terms that further define what type of blood a person has, beyond the general blood type categories of A, B, AB, and O.
Being Rh-negative is neither good nor bad, but it can become a serious issue if you’re pregnant by or planning to have a child with a man who is Rh-positive.

In the United States, the population of Rh-negative individuals varies among ethnic groups. The highest prevalence is found among Caucasians (15%), followed by African Americans and Hispanics (8% each), and Asians and Native Americans (1% each). For the small percentage of people who are Rh-negative, their blood type causes no special health concerns except when they give or receive blood, or during pregnancy.

WHEN NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE MEET AND MATE

If you're Rh-negative and carrying a baby who is Rh-positive (like the baby’s father), your baby may be at risk for a serious disease. When your immune system (which fights off invaders to keep you healthy) is exposed to your baby’s Rh-positive blood, it will begin producing antibodies that are sensitized(designed specifically) to destroy these “foreign” blood cells.

If this is your first pregnancy, chances are everything will be fine. These sensitized antibodies are typically not dangerous until subsequent pregnancies, when they've had time to grow in strength and number. However, all subsequent pregnancies would be at great risk. That is why you must act now to prevent your immune system from being exposed to Rh-positive blood.

CONSEQUENCES OF HDN FOR UNPROTECTED BABIES

If your immune system is not held in check by a product such as RhoGAM® Brand, sensitized antibodies programmed to recognize and attack any Rh-positive blood cells are waiting for the next pregnancy. The antibodies then begin to destroy the red blood cells of the baby, leading to complications such as jaundice, anemia, mental retardation, and heart failure1. This condition, known as hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), can be fatal in the most severe cases—the infant would typically die during pregnancy or shortly after delivery.

Prior to the introduction of RhoGAM® Brand in 1968, HDN was a major cause of infant mortality, responsible for an average of 10,000 deaths annually in the United States2. Since the introduction of Rh immune globulin products, like RhoGAM® Brand, the incidence of HDN has been virtually eliminated in most developed countries.

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I had the shot during pregnancy but didn't end up needing it after the birth because my daughter was the same as I am. Having the shot isn't really a big deal. It does hurt a little after - but no more than if you bumped your hip on the corner of a desk or something and had a bruise for a few days.

I had the RhoGAM shots with both of my kids....it really isn't about the mother and the father...it is about the mother's blood type interacting with the baby's blood type. I had one during pregnancy (not bad, didn't have any side effects, not a big deal at all). Then when my first was born, they checked her blood type. Since hers was NOT O neg, I got the shot again, also w/out problem. With my second, I had the shot during pregnancy, then my son's blood was tested and he is O neg like me, so I didn't need the shot. I'm not sure the specifics of why it is necessary for O neg mommas, but it is. This isn't an optional shot. I had NO problems with it. Hope all goes well with your sister's pregnancy and delivery!

Howdy,
I am RH negative, so I got the shot for both pregnancies. It isn't a big deal ... the shot goes in the hip, small bruise from it. And I have two very healthy children. There is MUCH more of a risk if she doesn't have the shot. My nurse was telling me how her ex-husbands wife had 4 miscarriages because the dr was a quack and believed that only GOD chooses which pregnancies should exist so he didn't ever test his patients for rH. Once she switched docs, got the shot, she had a beautiful healthy child. As far as the necessity of whether or not both parents are neg or pos ... if her doctor is recommending she get the shot ... she should get it without question.

Big congrats to her and best of luck!
M.

I had the RhoGAM shot for both of my pregnancies! In fact, because I am neg and my husband is pos, it might be what saved both of them! Especially my 2nd! Without the shot, the mother's body will build up antibodies that will reject the baby if the blood is pos. Neither of my children had any issues and wouldn't have changed anything, knowing how important it was to the survival of my pregnancies!

I'm A- and my husband is A+, as is my son, so I had two shots, one at 28 weeks and one after delivering. No problems and I was actually amazed by how little it hurt compared to what I was expecting. I even forgot I'd had it by the end of of the day and wondered for a moment why there was a spot of blood on the inside of my pants.

I did a lot of reading before getting the shot and it no longer contains thimerosal, which is the mercury component. The company's website http://www.rhogam.com/Pages/default.aspx is pretty good at explaining who needs Rhogam and why. If your sister's husband is rH negative as well then she wouldn't need Rhogam as a negative blood type is recessive and there is no way she could give birth to a positive baby having a rH negative husband and being negative herself. But if he's positive or they don't know his blood type then it would be in her best interest to get the shot, especially if she's considering having more children.

My cousin and a close friend also had Rhogam with no ill effect to themselves or their children. On the opposite side of the spectrum my husband's grandmother and aunt are rH negative and were having babies before Rhogam was developed. Two of Grandmom's babies developed hemolytic disease of the newborn but survived. Aunt JoAnne was not so lucky and lost her daughter at eight months gestation. She's since donated plasma to make Rhogam so that other women don't have to go through what she did.

In a nutshell, the potential risk of getting the shot (VERY low, I've never actually heard of anyone having a problem) far outweighs that of skipping it.

I'm O- and my husband is too. I had two kids and I didn't need the shot because we're both negative. I just brought my husbands blood donor card to my Dr. as proof.

I had the Rhogam injection with my son and he is 8 and very smart no problems. My doctor explained it to me that if I didnt get the injection it could cause my son to have problems after he was born. I recommend that your sister get it.. Good Luck!!!

Hello! I can answer your question because I, personally, had to have RhoGAM during my pregnancy.

First, the RhoGAM shot depends totally on the mother being 0 negative. It doesn't matter what type of blood the father has. The RhoGAM is given to an rh negative mother at certain points during the pregnancy to, basically, prevent the mother's body from attacking the baby in the event that the mother and baby's blood mixed. The shot is usually given at 28 weeks, but, can be given at other times during the pregnancy, if the doctor thinks it's a necessary precaution. Once the mom delivers the baby, she is again given RhoGAM if her baby's blood type is positive. If the baby turns out to also be Rh negative, then, RhoGAM isn't necessary. During my pregnancy, I was actually given RhoGAM one time earlier on, I think it was like 15 weeks or something, due to the fact that I was having some brownish spotting. The doctor felt the spotting was normal and I probably didn't need the RhoGAM, but, we did it as a precaution - better safe than sorry. That's another point, the RhoGAM protects the baby, but, it also protects the mother. Not only can the mixing of Rh positive and negative blood types cause issues for the baby, it can do the same for the mom, so, it's necessary for both.

As for the mercury, they stopped putting mercury in RhoGAM shots sometime in the 80's, I believe. As of right now, your sister's doctor's office should not have RhoGAM with mercury. If she's worried about it, tell her to ask - I did. I was totally paranoid during my entire pregnancy because I had miscarried a few times prior and I wanted to be sure I was doing everything right for my baby. I actually researched it and, then, made the nurse show me the ingredients in the shot. She assured me that there are no RhoGAM injections which still contain mercury, but, I had to see for myself. I decided I'd rather let them call me a crazy mom than worry that I was hurting my baby.

I can honestly say that everything went fine with my pregnancy with the RhoGAM. I also know two other girls who had to have RhoGAM injections and their pregnancies went fine and their babies were totally healthy.

I wish your sister a happy, healthy pregnancy!

I had to have the shot for both of my pregnancy's. The shot is to help the mother out incase any of the baby's blood gets in her system during the pregnancy or during birth. The shot prevents her body from building up immunity to the baby's blood, seeing the baby has different blood then her. I am O- as well, and the way it was explained to me was: if any other type of blood was to enter into the system other than O-; the body would build up immunity towards the other non O- blood and destroy the bad blood. Once your body builds up that immunity, it will attack anything that enters the body that is not O-. I hope this helps. There is nothing wrong with the shot and there are no weird side affects. But I will say this, it hurts because they give it to you in your butt. My kids came out healthy and fine with me having the shot. My daughter is 7 about to be 8 years old and my son is 5 about to be 6 years old. Let me know if you would like any more information.

I have had the RhoGAM injection with all 3 of my kids during my pregnancy and after with my last one as he was positive and I am negative. I did not experience any side effects and my children are perfectly healthy. No worries about getting the shot. I know that the if you do not get the shot, it can affect future pregnancies. I would totally recommend it but have her really talk it over with her doctor is she has any concerns. Best of luck to you and your sister.

This has been pretty well covered, but a couple of comments concern me. First of all, two negative parents will NEVER have a positive baby, so the mother does not need the shot. However, any other combination can give you a neg or pos baby, even two positive parents. A neg mother MUST have this shot to protect the future pregnancies. If you are one who is anti-vaccine and will not do it, please do not have any more children. Also, if you have ever been pregnant previously and aborted or had a miscarriage and did not have the shot, you run the risk of this baby being very ill or even dying. This is serious stuff.

I have had 5 children and one miscarriage. I have had nearly a dozen shots, and I have never had any type of problem, nor have my children suffered from this. My children have all been positive, as well, so it potentially would have caused a problem had I not received the shots. The good news is that my daughters will never have to go through this themselves. The benefits outweigh the negatives by far.

A., I've had 4 kids and 5 shots, no worries. I had a miscarriage first, so the dr. gave me one early in my 2nd pregnancy. then one after for every kid. I never experienced any problem and neither have the boys. Hope this helps to ease your mind. L.

I had it both times, and had no side effects. Both of my girls are healthy as can be!

Best of luck to your sister!

J.

if both mom and dad are RH- there is no need for the Rhogam Shot.

I have had three children and had the Rhogam shot during and after each pregnancy. My children or I suffered no side effects or problems. I am Type O Negative and my hubby is O Positive. I was told the shot is only necessary if the mom is type positive and father is negative. My aunt and her husband were the same and had eight kids without ever having the shot (many years ago). As a result her last four children had serious medical issues and one passed away within days of birth. Now the medical community knows so much more about it and problems are prevented with the Rhogam.

I had the shot at 28 weeks and after delivery. I'm negative and my husband positive. The first one did hurt a little bit, but not more than other shots. The second one was nothing compared to childbirth so I didn't even feel it =) My daughter is now 14 months and no neurological problems.

You should visit the RhNegativeRegistry.com for more information.

Here's an article that may be helpful: http://www.vaccinetruth.org/rhogam.htm

Hi A.,
Well the way my doctor explained it to me was....there is a high chance of mischarge without the shot (because you are carring a foreign object in your body and your own amune system will try to get rid of it...the baby).So that is why you get one while pregent. But the part that scared me most was after the pregancy was ended (either threw birth or termination of some kind). That your next baby would have a 80% chance of being born with a mental birth dect of some kind.
I was luckie, both my husband and I are A-. But may be that explains why my mother had 6 mischarges and we all have learning disablities of one kind or an other.
I think better safe then sorry, a baby life is too precious to take chances with. Check with other OBN's and you will see they all do it, for the safty of the baby.
Hope this helps.

I had the rhogam shot and I didn't have any side effects and we have a very happy, healthy little 12 month old boy! The pregnant woman needs to have she shot if she is neg and the father/donor is pos. It protects the future babies is what it does because the pregnant woman (if exposed to the fetus' blood) can build up antibodies against that positive blood (the body sees it as foreign) and during the next baby (if exposed to the blood somehow) the womans body can "attack" the fetus and it can be fatal. The rhogam shot prevents this from happening. It is very important to have!

FYI: I am a physician assistant student.

A.

Hi A.,

I too, am O -, and had to get the shot during both of my pregnancies, and another immediately after giving birth. I also had to have a DNC due to miscarriage. There are were no side effects to me or the babies whatsoever (except, as the other poster said...my butt was a bit sore for a day or so afterward). Rhogam protects both the mother and the baby (and any future pregancies...ergo, the shot they give right after delivering). I believe, however, that if the mother and father both have negative blood, the mother can forgo the shot, since the baby will definitely have negative blood as well. She should just verify this with her doctor but, if I remember correctly, I'm 99% certain that what my doc told me.

A.,
I have a negative blood type and with my first child, my doctor in California gave me the rhogam shot while pregnant and then again after the birth of the baby. My son is now 4 1/2, is healthy and bright and has no neurological concerns. But then we moved to Michigan while I was pregnant with my second child. My doctor here said that since my husband was a negative blood type too, there was no need for me to have the shots since the baby would have to have negative blood type also. Not sure if all doctors would do this, I guess it requires trust that there is no possibility of affair or mistake on the husband's blood type... not sure but if husband and wife have negative blood type, then the shots should not be necessary as far as I understand it! Good luck to your sister!

Hi A.,

Back when I was having my kids (up to 32 years ago) they were giving the shot only if the baby was born possitive. I am 0- and my husband is 0+. My first child was born 0- so I wasn't given the shot. My second child was 0+ so I was given the shot. It realy didn't seem like any big deal. They told me it was to protect the next pregnancy from the 0+ antibodies. By the time I was having my third child, they were giving it before the baby was born So I got it when I was about 7 or 8 months pregnant. He turned out to be o- anyway and we didn't have any more after that.

Hope this helps. Best of luck to your sister.

If mom is - she will need the shot at about 28 weeks pregnant.. Even if the husband was - also they would still give the shot...

Every mom who is - gets the shot.. so if the shot causes any problems there would be thousand and thousands of kids with problems.

After the baby is born they will test the baby and mom will get another rhogam shot if the baby has + blood.

That shot must be given within about 48 hours of birth... if your sister bleed for any reason during pregnancy (threatened miscarriage etc) she might need additional shots.

If she does not recieve a rhogam shot and the baby really is positive there is a good chance that any future pregnancies would end in fetal death.

They have been giving rhogam shots for 40 years..

I am RH negative and needed the Rhogam shots several times during my two pregnancies (if you have bleeding during your pregnancy you need to get the shot, even if you've already had it). You typically get the shot at 27 weeks, and then possibly after the baby is born, depending on the baby's blood type. You need to get the shot or the mother's system attacks the baby's blood supply. Neither of my children have neurological problems. This shot is important to protect the baby.

I have had the shot 3 times and have never had any problems with side effects or problems with my kids. I know it's extremely important to get if your doctor says you need it should you ever get pregnant again. If the mother is a negative bloodtype (I'm A-) and the baby happens to be a positve blood type then the baby could die. I think it has something to do with the blood attacking the other cells or maybe it's the anti-bodies. But she should ask her OB for details so she can be clear and that way she will be comortable with what she is doing. I do think the timing is important so don't delay.

Hello A., The shot is for when the mom is neg, and the dad pos. She should have it. A distant relative carried her baby full term last year, gave birth to a healthy little girl, who only lived for 4 hours due to not getting the shot. I'm not sure of all the details, but it made me realize how important the shot it. Good luck.

My mother is neg and dad is pos. With first child, there is no problem. With me (second child) I was born with jaundice - just had to be under the billi lights (pictures show I look like an oompa looompa). With the other 3 - they delivered them two weeks early and gave them a pint of my dad's blood and there were no complications.

I am 100% wholeheartedly against vaccinations/man made meds in any form, so my suggestion would be to let nature be nature and as long as the hospital knows what they are dealing with and are prepared with lights, there should be no problem. Billirubin lights have been around for years (I am 42) and it (in my humble opinion) is WAY safer than anything mercury...

All the ladies are correct, I was B- and my husband was A+ so I needed the shot. I also had to get the shot after my C-section - my daughter is 3 and 100% healthy with no issues. It is really just to prevent any problems if the mothers blood and babies blood combine during the pregnancy or during delivery. No need for concern, and it does not have side effects.