Natural Birth

declining Rhogam?

My blood type is A-negative, but so is DH's.  There is no chance baby belongs to anyone else but us.  The OB is still recommending Rhogam but I am leaning towards declining it.  He cites the possibility of lab error, but I would rather have DH and I have our blood retested if that's what it took to avoid Rhogam.

However, I understand that there is a very, very small chance that one of us could have a very small amount of Rh factor that was passed on to baby and have a Rh+ baby.  https://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask114

Has anyone been in a similar situation of whether to accept or decline, even when blood types indicate that everyone involved should be Rhesus negative?  What did you decide?

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Re: declining Rhogam?

  • I am Rh- and my husband is + so I tried to research it as much as I could during my pregnancy. It was my understanding that two Rh- people would always have an Rh- baby, I hadn't read anywhere that it could end up Rh+, but I could certainly have overlooked something. With my husband having a positive blood type I really didn't have a choice in the matter, and so, I switched from researching chance to researching the actual Rhogram shot. I was unable to find anything that scared me more than the chance of my possible future children being rejected by my body. I am not one to medicate what I deem unnecessarily, but even when the time came to get that shot I still felt bad about it- like I could have done more research. It's just a mental thing, I guess, you just gotta grit your teeth and bare it for a few moments. In the end there were no side effects to the shot and I don't believe it could harm my baby(at least not anything like Pitocin or an epidural could) and I'm glad I took the precaution because it did end up giving me peace of mind.

    One thing, if you do end up getting Rhogram, make absolutely sure you mention it to a nurse soon after you give birth so that they can give you another dose. I found that nobody would have said anything had I not asked. Turned out that my daughter was O-, so I didn't need the last shot, but I wish they would tell you stuff like that without needing to ask 10x
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  • The only reason I saw to get the shot was to have more children in the future. If this is not a concern of yours and the likely hood of having an rh positive baby is slim. I see no problem declining the shot.

    Since I'm like the pp. I am neg and DH is positive and this is our first baby. I absolutely got the shot.
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  • huntjulhuntjul member

    imageYellowLily2013:
    The only reason I saw to get the shot was to have more children in the future. If this is not a concern of yours and the likely hood of having an rh positive baby is slim. I see no problem declining the shot. Since I'm like the pp. I am neg and DH is positive and this is our first baby. I absolutely got the shot.

    We hope to have another baby after this one.  But yes, we are both Rh negative.  If DH was Rh+ I would have the shot without question.  But as both of us are Rh-, I'm struggling to find the reason.

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  • ECATXECATX member
    I'm O- and my husband is O+, so I'm in a different situation, but we had a blood test done (with my blood) that showed the baby's blood type at 13 weeks. Since hers was positive, we knew for sure I needed the shot. If hers was negative, I wouldn't have needed it. I wonder if you could have that test, and then you'd know for sure? 

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  • huntjulhuntjul member

    imageECATX:
    I'm O- and my husband is O+, so I'm in a different situation, but we had a blood test done (with my blood) that showed the baby's blood type at 13 weeks. Since hers was positive, we knew for sure I needed the shot. If hers was negative, I wouldn't have needed it. I wonder if you could have that test, and then you'd know for sure? 

    This is a great thought, and I'm going to ask my OB about the test.  Confirmation of baby's Rh- status would make me feel better for declining a likely unneeded drug treatment during pregnancy.  I don't know if the test is available here, but I think I'll ask.

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  • skoozskooz member

    I am negative and so is DH. My OB recommended Rhogam because "they don't trust that people always know who the father is," which I thought was a ridiculous reason. DH and I have only ever been with each other, so there was no question.

    I declined, and it did come up a couple more times (we moved halfway through the pregnancy, so I switched to a different OB) but it's not like they forced me or anything. If DH was positive I would've had no issue getting the shot, but it was unnecessary for us. Hope that helps.

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  • imageECATX:
    I'm O- and my husband is O+, so I'm in a different situation, but we had a blood test done (with my blood) that showed the baby's blood type at 13 weeks. Since hers was positive, we knew for sure I needed the shot. If hers was negative, I wouldn't have needed it. I wonder if you could have that test, and then you'd know for sure? 

    Do you know what the name of this test was? I didn't know that it was possible to find out the baby's blood type ahead of time, but that might be nice to know for future pregnancies. 

  • imagehuntjul:

    imageECATX:
    I'm O- and my husband is O+, so I'm in a different situation, but we had a blood test done (with my blood) that showed the baby's blood type at 13 weeks. Since hers was positive, we knew for sure I needed the shot. If hers was negative, I wouldn't have needed it. I wonder if you could have that test, and then you'd know for sure? 

    This is a great thought, and I'm going to ask my OB about the test.  Confirmation of baby's Rh- status would make me feel better for declining a likely unneeded drug treatment during pregnancy.  I don't know if the test is available here, but I think I'll ask.

    They tested my babe's blood type after birth and so I got another dose then, but I'd already gotten one earlier (my partner is RH+).

    If I were you, I would consider getting both of you retyped. My blood type was wrong when they typed me as a baby- somehow my mom's blood type ended up in my record. I found out when they typed me when I donated blood. They had me as A+ and I'm really O-, so it really did make a difference!

  • imagebabybrown2013:

    imageECATX:
    I'm O- and my husband is O+, so I'm in a different situation, but we had a blood test done (with my blood) that showed the baby's blood type at 13 weeks. Since hers was positive, we knew for sure I needed the shot. If hers was negative, I wouldn't have needed it. I wonder if you could have that test, and then you'd know for sure? 

    Do you know what the name of this test was? I didn't know that it was possible to find out the baby's blood type ahead of time, but that might be nice to know for future pregnancies. 

    the test is fetal RHD genotyping by Sequenom.

    i had it done. 

  • There's no reason to get the shot.  You're baby can't end up with any other blood type other than negative.

    Back when my mom was having kids, she was asked the blood type of the father.  When my mom responded "My husband is 0 negative" the nurse repeated, "We just need to know the FATHER." 

    I think they want you to have it incase you're not 100% honest.  Some drs give it to any woman who has - blood.  So if I was you and I knew 100% that the baby could only have - blood, I wouldn't get it.

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  • I had my husband tested and he ended up being Rh+. I still declined the 28 week shot and am still debating getting the shot after birth. I will wait and have the baby typed after birth and decide at that point. My mom had 3 natural births and 2 of her children were Rh+ and she never had any shots either during or after.  My understanding is that many countries only to the one after delivery if needed.  If i am involved in an accident or some other trauma I may reconsider and get one at that time.

    I can always get screened before any future children to make sure that I have not developed a sensitivity and at that point say one and done if I have.

    If both of you are negative I would definitely decline. My OB specifically asked if I knew my husbands blood type.  I guess he would have believed me unlike some of the other doctors I hear about.

    https://thecontrarianmom.com/2009/06/24/rh-factor-the-truth-about-rh-factor-pregnancy/

     

  • Both of my parents are RH+ and I am RH negative and I am in no way not my father's daughter! LOL! So a fluke can happen! That being said, since I am A- and my husband is a positive, I have to have the shots. Both my boys were positive.
  • iris427iris427 member
    imagerconrad0911:
    Both of my parents are RH and I am RH negative and I am in no way not my father's daughter! LOL! So a fluke can happen! That being said, since I am A and my husband is a positive, I have to have the shots. Both my boys were positive.


    That is not a fluke, it's basic genetics. Your parents were Rh but were carriers of the Rh gene, so they had a 25 chance of having a Rh child. However, two Rh parents are unlikely to have a Rh baby, since the Rh gene is dominant.
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  • imageiris427:
    imagerconrad0911:
    Both of my parents are RH and I am RH negative and I am in no way not my father's daughter! LOL! So a fluke can happen! That being said, since I am A and my husband is a positive, I have to have the shots. Both my boys were positive.
    That is not a fluke, it's basic genetics. Your parents were Rh but were carriers of the Rh gene, so they had a 25 chance of having a Rh child. However, two Rh parents are unlikely to have a Rh baby, since the Rh gene is dominant.

     Thank you! I honestly had no idea that's how that worked, obviously!  :)

     

  • iris427iris427 member
    imagerconrad0911:

    imageiris427:
    imagerconrad0911:
    Both of my parents are RH and I am RH negative and I am in no way not my father's daughter! LOL! So a fluke can happen! That being said, since I am A and my husband is a positive, I have to have the shots. Both my boys were positive.
    That is not a fluke, it's basic genetics. Your parents were Rh but were carriers of the Rh gene, so they had a 25 chance of having a Rh child. However, two Rh parents are unlikely to have a Rh baby, since the Rh gene is dominant.

     Thank you! I honestly had no idea that's how that worked, obviously!  :)

     

    And the stupid bump deleted all the plus and minus signs in my post. Sigh.
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