Medically reviewed to ensure accuracy.
Rh factor testing likely wasnt on your radar before you had a baby on the way.
But part of having a healthy pregnancy means getting screened.
The Rh factor is a protein carried by red blood cells in some people and not in others.
What does Rh factor mean?
But not everyone has it.
If you carry the protein, youre Rh positive.
What is Rh incompatibility?
That can potentially cause a serious jot down of anemia and other health problems.
At that point, the antibodies your body makes cannot harm your baby.
Thats why its so important to get tested and, if needed, treat the problem.
Fortunately, finding out your Rh status is as easy as taking a blood test.
Rh factor screening is typically part of theinitial prenatal blood workup.
If you test Rh positive, as most of the population is, the issue of compatibility is moot.
What happens if you test Rh negative?
If he turns out to be Rh negative, your fetus will be Rh negative too.
Thats because two Rh negative parents can’t have an Rh positive baby.
That becomes a concern if she becomes pregnant again with another Rh positive baby.
Most practitioners use a two-pronged strategy.
Another dose is administered within 72 hours after delivery if blood tests show your baby is Rh positive.
(If your baby is Rh negative, no treatment is required.
Getting a RhoGAM shot at these times can head off problems in future pregnancies.
This is done through a small needle placed in the umbilical cord under ultrasound guidance.
Such transfusions are very effective and associated with excellent outcomes.
Thinking about all this can make you anxious if you and your baby are Rh incompatible.
In fact, RhoGAM has reduced the need for transfusions in Rh incompatible pregnancies to less than 1 percent.
If the father has the antigen and the mother does not, there’s again the potential for problems.
Part of the first routine blood test looks for the presence of circulating antibodies in the mom’s blood.
Rh factor incompatibilities during pregnancy arent all that common.
