Hi EmmaandGary
I am also Rhesus Negative and have two daughters. I found a bit of information for you which i hope will explain it better,i had my Anti D injections after the birth of my two babies as my blood tests all came back with no antibodies present. This 28 week injection seems to be a new thing and is not even offered everywhere yet
,if this is your first baby and your results are all fine and you are worried about side effects see what your midwife thinks about you having your Anti D after delivery,thats what i am gonna do this time if everything is ok.
"": When you have your first antenatal check (your booking visit) you will be given a number of routine blood tests. One of these tests is used to find out your blood group (A, B, AB, or O) and your Rhesus status (positive or negative). Your blood is also screened for the presence of Rhesus antibodies. Your Rhesus status describes whether or not you have a particular protein on the surface of your red blood cells. If you don't have this protein (the "Rhesus factor") you are considered Rhesus negative, and if you do have it, you are Rhesus positive. About 85 per cent of people are Rhesus positive, although it varies by race.
If a Rhesus-negative mother is carrying a Rhesus-positive baby (the child inherits this from a Rhesus-positive dad), there is a possibility that a problem may occur. Some of the mother's immune system may react to the Rhesus protein on her baby's cells as if it were a "foreign invader" and produce antibodies against it. These will then cross the placenta and attack the baby's Rhesus-positive blood cells causing anaemia and possibly jaundice. Thankfully, though, this problem is very rare these days because of developments in obstetrics.
If a Rhesus-positive mum is carrying a Rhesus-negative baby these problems will not occur.
If your blood test shows you are Rhesus negative, you will be told, and during your pregnancy you will have some extra blood tests to see if you have developed any Rhesus antibodies. This rarely happens, but, if it does, you will be carefully monitored. If a Rhesus-negative woman has an ectopic pregnancy, or if she has bleeding or a miscarriage after 12 weeks of pregnancy, she will be given an injection of anti-D immunoglobulin. These are antibodies which coat any fetal cells in the mother's circulation and destroy them before an immune response is triggered so that the baby is not affected.
In May 2002, the National Institue for Clinical Evidence (NICE) recommended that all pregnant Rhesus-negative women should be offered anti-D routinely at weeks 28 and 34 of their pregnancy. Currently not all NHS hospitals do so, but the number is growing. If you would like to know more about this, talk to your midwife or doctor.
When your baby is born, a sample of his cord blood will be taken so his blood group can be determined. If your baby is Rhesus positive, you will be given an injection of anti-D immunoglobulin. This must be given within 72 hours of delivery so that your immune response is not triggered. If you don't get anti-D, it would cause problems for any future Rhesus-positive babies you might have. If your baby is Rhesus negative, you will not require anti-D after delivery.
In the past, Rhesus disease used to cause problems ranging from severe newborn jaundice to the need for blood transfusions to prevent miscarriages and stillbirths. These days complications associated with being Rhesus negative are rare.""
Keep us posted and if you wanna know anything just ask xx
