Refusing 28 week rhogam shot?

[jumpshot12]

Let me start off with saying I am a Medical Laboratory Professional. I study\ work in the field of immunohematology. It is a very bad idea to refuse to receive RHIG when pregnant and I will explain why. If you are RH Negative (A-, B-, AB-, or O-) you lack the D antigen in your blood. . If your husband is RH Pos. (A+, B+, AB+, or O+) he has the D antigen in his blood. That being said, the baby can then be RH pos. also. This can cause a really big problem, not for your first pregnancy, but any pregnancy after. This is what happens ; Your baby is RH pos. when your blood recognizes this foreign antigen (D, from the baby) you create something called Anti-D (antibody against the D antigen in babies blood (we call this creation of anti-D "sensitization"). RHIG stops the production ("sensitization") of the D antibody. If you do not receive RHIG you body will make Anti-D. This will not likely be a problem in your first pregnancy because it could take 3 or more months to create Anti-D, that is why you get a series of RHIG shots throughout pregnancy and after. So fast forward to your second pregnancy if you refuse RHIG.. Your blood now has something called Anti-D that attacks D antigens. If baby #2 is RH pos. Your bodies Anti-D will attack the babies blood causing something called HDFN (hemolytic disease of the fetus\ newborn, also called erythroblastosis fetalis). In a lot of cases the baby will die shortly before or after birth. If the baby survives there can be many serious problems including, but not limited to; sever anemia, jaundice, Hydrops (fluid throughout the body's tissues, including in the spaces containing the lungs, heart, and abdominal organs), which can lead to heart failure and/or respiratory failure from too much fluid, poor organ function, death . The reason all of this happens is because when Anti-D attacks the blood of the baby it causes Hemolysis which is the destroying of red cells (oxygen carrying cells in the body). One thing that may have to be done to save the newborns life is something called an Exchange transfusion which means they replace the babies blood with blood from a donor (probably something you don't want since I hear all this preaching about refusing RHIG because it is made from someone else's blood). That is a little bit ironic if you ask me. Anyway, if the HDFN is not that sever the baby may just need a Red blood cell transfusion, platelet transfusion, plasma transfusion. If all of these things are refused the chances of the baby surviving are very very very slim. The baby may also need many medications to help organs, could be put on a ventilator , may need a feeding tube. So in short, your baby would be very sick, if still alive. RHIG is very important if a second pregnancy is planned so that the baby will be born safe and healthy. And for all of you people out there that ask "what happened before we knew all this, like back in the day" the answer would be babies died.