Delayed cord clamping and rh incompatibility

BabyBear12

I wasn't really sure where to post this, but I know that there are many knowledgeable women on this board and delayed cord clamping usually goes along with a "natural birth", so if anyone can provide any answers to this, I would appreciate it! I am rh-, LO is likely +. I want to delay cord clamping with my LO but have read a couple of places that this can increase the chances of our bloods mixing. I have had the rhogam shot, and will get another one at delivery, but does anyone know if this will have any specific risks to LO? I know that risk of jaundice can increase with rh incompatibility, but anything else? Do the benefits of delayed cord clamping still outweigh the risks of our bloods mixing? I tried to ask my midwife about this, but she seemed unsure. Thank you! 

SqueezeTheClay

I'm rh- with a + husband, but in all my readings I've found the opposite that you have.  Delayed cord clamping is what will keep the blood from mixing because the baby gets as much of his own blood as possible, leaving less to flow back into you.  When the cord is clamped prematurely, there is lots of baby's blood and more blood pressure to push LO's blood back into your system, increasing the risk of mixing and creating the antibodies.  I found that info when I researched how to minimize the risk of blood mixing if you refused the rhogam (which I didn't do, but was curious about a few years ago)

WildcatPrincess

In your case your blood won't cause harm to LO because your blood is compatible with his/hers. If it was the opposite and LO was - and you were + then LO's system would attack the + antibodies which causes the hemoglobin breakdown that can cause jaundice. I'm struggling with this myself. I don't think it's widely proven that delayed cord clamping will affect the severity of jaundice, if there's an incompatibility it's going to happen no matter what. DD and I had an ABO incompatibility and she was very jaundiced that first week, it was a struggle. But there's nothing to concretely say not delaying this time would make a difference enough to outweigh the benefits.

So basically I'm no help because I'm still torn.

BabyBear12

Thanks ladies! This all makes sense to me. I think the delayed clamping will be ok. I hadn't considered that it's me that could have the problem from LO's blood type but I should be ok because I got the shot. As long as it doesn't increase the risk for LO, I think I'll stick with the DC.