Rh Negative How Often Do You Need Shot

Updated on March 04, 2010
K.A. asks from Baldwin Park, CA
8 answers

Hi,
I had a m/c in Sept 09, I was about 4 weeks. I was given a Rhogam shot a few days prior to the m/c. I suspect that I am pregnant now, I just missed a period, took one test and it was positive. I have a dr's appointment next Friday. Just wondering if I will need to have another shot at some point? Also, worried that something will go wrong if I wait too long to get shot. Do any of you know if you've had one shot in less than a year if you'll need another? And how soon would I need to get in in my pregnancy?

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So What Happened?

Its been long time since I logged in. Pregnancy went well the shot did not affect it! I have a 4yr old and a 3yr old now! Thank you all for the responses!

More Answers

R.M.

answers from Jacksonville on

I had a rhogam shot after a miscarriage as well and with both of my pregnancies following i had one too. Ask you obgyn if you need to have one . Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

M.S.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I was always told that 1 around 22wks was standard, however I had 5 losses and got a shot after the m/c. Since I was high risk with last pregnancy, I had several (I'm counting 4, but there might have been 5) because of complications during the pregnancy (loss of twin at 11wks, no amnio after 16wks, rupture at 26wks). Your OB will keep you on track. CONGRATS!!!!!

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K.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

I also had two pregnancies and one mc and had rhogam shots with each one. Just make sure to ask for the mercury free shot! congrats!

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P.A.

answers from Detroit on

My daughter has this and they told us you need one with every pregnancy so I would definitely ask your doctor.

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A.T.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi K.. You only need the shot when there is a chance that the baby's blood has gotten into your bloodstream (like when you have a miscarriage). The shot lasts about 12 weeks in your system. So, if you got one in September, then it has likely worn off. But, if you do not bleed or get an amnio or trauma or something during this pregnancy, you do not need Rhogam until 28 weeks. They routinely give it at 28 weeks because there is normally a little transfer of blood in the third trimester and it is a precaution. That shot lasts for the remainder of the pregnancy (remember, 12 weeks?) Then when you deliver, the doctor takes a sample of blood from the placenta side of the umbilical cord after it has been cut. The lab will test it, and if there is indeed a blood type mismatch, you get another Rhogam.
Hope this helps. Good luck with the current pregnancy!

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A.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

i am RH neg also, and i am getting my FIRST shot tommorrow at 28 weeks.......???? this is my second child. my doctor told me i didn't need it before unless i was having an amnio. now i'm wondering if this is correct, since you were given a shot that early in your pregnancy? now i'm really confused! i looked on baby center and it's just to confusing trying to figure it out. good luck, luckily i see doc tomorrow so hopefully i can get this all straight.

P.P.

answers from Raleigh on

I had my first shot at 6-months gestation with my oldest child, which worked out well as I am 0- with the RH- factor. My oldest daughter is 0+. I had another injection after she was born before I left the hospital.

During my second pregnancy by a second husband (still current husband after 20+ years), the doctors said I didn't need the injection. My youngest daughter is A- although I don't know if she has the RH- factor. I presume she doesn't as the doctors never said anything; however, just for my own peace of mind, I will ask her pediatrician at our next visit or upon my next call to the office if they can tell me over the phone.

Both daughters are completely healthy with the exception of problems at birth with my oldest daughter. She was born with severely crossed eyes (strabismus) and required surgery to correct the problem after all over non-invasive means were exhausted by the time she was 7 months old. In addition, she has a heart condition that never truly became a problem until around middle-school years. She began having severe tachycardia, fatigue for no reason, and her sitting heart rate would slow to almost nothing then shoot up making her heart feel as if it were going to pound out of her chest. It turned out she has paroxysmal atrial tachycardia with an irregular heart beat. This has NOTHING to do with the RH shot or anything I did during pregnancy. Heart conditions as well as autoimmune diseases run on both sides of my family, particularly autoimmune diseases. Both sides of my family are primarily of Native American descent, specifically my mother's side as my great-grandfather was full Cherokee and married a full Arapaho wife. My grams (maternal) married a Cherokee husband. My paternal father's family is primarily Native American; however, the family line began with 2 brothers from Ireland who came to the states in the 1600s. They married into Cherokee families as did their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc... It has only been in the last few generations that any of us have begun to marry outside of our Native American roots. My first husband was Cherokee, for the most part; however, my 2nd husband is primarily English or more to the point, he's of European as in English descent. The only upset to this is that it gives my youngest at least a fighting chance that she will never have to fight lupus (SLE) or Sjogren's diseases as I have or RA like many of her aunts and my 1st cousins, or RA as was the case with my mother's oldest sister who was my mom in every sense of the word short of biologically. She died in her sleep March 5th, seven years as of tomorrow. Her death certificate shows that she died of cardiac arrest brought about by complications of RA. We lost another sister a few years later to cancer and complications relating to RA. My birth mother tests positive for RA and osteo although she isn't as symptomatic nor is her condition as advanced as ours were ( or rather mine is).

The autoimmune diseases and heart conditions are all genetic in nature and have nothing to do with the rh factor or the rogam shot. The RH shot protects the baby from the rh- mother's blood. This is a good thing. Prior to the invention of this injection, many babies died needlessly.

We all want healthy babies. It starts with taking care of oneself BEFORE pregnancy as well as during and after as well as breast feeding to give your child the anti-bodies to help fight off many infections that man-made formula cannot synthesize.

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P.A.

answers from Los Angeles on

I understand that you get a Rhogam shot only after a pregnancy if the baby's blood type is different than yours OR if you have an amnio I never heard of giving a shot during pregnancy. I had three children and after the first two I had the shot because they had a different blood type. When I had an amnio they gave me a shot but when my third child was born and we had the same blood type no shot

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