If You Are Rh Negative

If you’re Rh negative, ask your health care provider about getting treated with RhoGam. Even if you miscarry or don’t deliver the baby, you will still need treatment. The health of any baby you have in the future depends on it.

When are you treated?

If your blood has not formed Rh antibodies, you’ll be treated during week 28 of your pregnancy. You also may be treated any time there’s a chance that fetal blood has mixed with yours. For example, this might be after am amniocentesis, a prenatal test; or if you have vaginal bleeding earlier than 28 weeks. Treatment is an injection of a medicine called RhoGam. RhoGam prevents Rh antibodies from forming. It won’t harm you or the fetus. After you give birth, your baby’s blood will be tested. If it’s Rh positive, you’ll be given RhoGam again within 3 days. If it’s Rh negative, you won’t need RhoGam until your next pregnancy.

Preventing future problems

Your chance of forming Rh antibodies increases with each pregnancy. This is true even for an ectopic pregnancy (the fertilized egg is outside the uterus) and pregnancies that ends in miscarriage or abortion. In these cases, you will most likely receive a RhoGam injection. This is because your body can make Rh antibodies even if you don’t deliver a baby. Rh antibodies can cause problems in future pregnancies.