Rh Negative Blood Type
If your blood type is Rh negative (ie. O neg, A neg, B neg, or AB neg), you will need to receive a gamma globulin injection anytime you have bleeding during your pregnancy, at approximately 28 weeks gestation and within 72 hours after delivery if your baby’s blood is found to Rh positive.
This injection is given to prevent an immune reaction if some of the baby’s blood cells enter your bloodstream. The baby’s Rh-positive cells entering your bloodstream could cause your body’s defense system to create antibodies to attack the different invading Rh positive cells. The Rhogam injection will prevent this from happening.
These injections are NOT necessary if the father of the baby is also Rh negative. However, he MUST have bloodwork ordered through my office showing that his blood type is Rh negative. Although it is not an extremely expensive test, most insurance companies will not cover the blood test for him. Therefore, this will need to be paid out of pocket prior to the blood test being done.
If your blood type is Rh negative, you need to contact us immediately with any vaginal bleeding during pregnancy so I can determine whether or not you need to receive a Rhogam injection.