Natural Birth and Baby Care.com

O Negative and O Positive Parents No Rhogam

by Lily Boamah
(Ghana)

I am O negative and my husband is O positive. I have a six months old baby and I never got the Rhogam shot. What should I do to protect my next pregnancy?

Answer:

Hi Lily,

At this point the best thing to do is to have your doctor's office test you for antibodies when your fertility returns or you decide you're ready to try to conceive again.

Getting a Rhogam shot at this point will not make much difference if you happened to become sensitized - and if you didn't become sensitized it is totally pointless.

The doctor's office can perform a simple blood test called the Indirect-Coombs test to see if you developed antibodies.

There's a good chance that you didn't, however. Firstly, your baby could be Rh- like you. There's about a 25% chance that any baby an Rh- mother/Rh+ father have will be Rh-. Even if your baby is Rh+, most of the time a mother does not become sensitized.

In situations where the mother has become sensitized it's best to seek the advice of a knowledgeable doctor or perinatologist who can advise and guide you through your next pregnancy to give your baby the best chance at healthy growth and development.