Hello Berries,
I have O- blood type and have been told this can lead to pregnancy complications if a future baby has a different blood type.
Has anyone else been through this and open to sharing your experience?
I don’t know anyone personally who’s had this issue, but I do know that different ABO types have no effect. Your concern is if the father is Rh positive (meaning that the baby may also be positive, and it’s when a negative mother ends up having a positive baby that problems may occur).
I am RH- and my husband is RH+ I miscarried my first pregnancy I believe for that reason but very early during my 2nd pregnancy I was given an injection in the behind, cant remember what it was called they gave me but it was to prevent any complications with it and it worked and I’m on my third pregnancy now and have had no complications. So just be sure to let your doc know so they can help prevent any complications that can occur with it 
My mom is O- and carried me (A+) and my brother to our due dates without any problems, other than we both decided to be breech at the last minute!
The problem is that if the father’s blood is positive, it’s possible that the baby will be positive as well–and your body will see the Rh protein as a threat and start attacking it, which can be fatal for the baby. I don’t have personal experience with it but it sounds like even this isn’t necessarily guaranteed to happen as there is usually minimal contact between the fetus’ blood and yours.
At any rate, there are treatments for it and with the treatment you likely wouldn’t experience any problems, from what I’ve read. Definitely something to bring up with your doctor before you start trying, though. And the father will be tested to see if he’s positive or negative. If he’s also negative, you’ll have absolutely nothing to worry about as the baby will be negative too.
Hopefully others will have more first-hand stories to tell but I don’t think there’s much cause for worry!
My mom has rh negative blood and my dad is rh positive. All three of us kids are rh positive. What she said is that the first baby is fine, but all subsequent babies are at risk of miscarriage bc after the first, your body has learned to manufacture antibodies against the rh positive blood.
However, even back in the 1970s when my mom was having babies, this was easily dealt with. They just gave my mom a shot (Rhogham? Something like that) right after the first baby was born, and then again after the second and third. So it wasn’t a big deal at all, and its something the doctor would definitely catch bc even if you don’t know your blood types, they will test for that at your first prenatal appointment.
I am RH negative and my hubby is positive… I have never had a miscarriage and Carried my son with NO issues! He is RH positive as well! I did get a shot at 24 weeks as well as right after birth! The issues can arrise IF the blood of a RH + baby mixed internally with your RH- blood which would then lead to your body creating antibodies agains a future fetus BUT with the shot their should be no issues! Good luck!
My grandmother was Rh neg and had three Rh positive babes back in the 60s.
The issue is if there is fetal-maternal mixing in utero it can cause your immune system to create anti-Rh antibodies that may attack future fetuses (the first baby is typically “safe” since you haven’t created antibodies yet).
In my grandmothers case, my aunt (her first) was fine, but this was the pre-Rhogam era so my uncle and dad (her second and third kids) needed complete exchange transfusions after birth.
This website is fantastic and should help answer a lot of your questions/concerns: Welcome to AboutKidsHealth
I have O- too It sounds scary at first but it isn’t a big deal at all anymore. Late in pregnancy you should be offered “Anti-D” which fixes it right up. My midwife isn’t particularly worried about anything, ever, so she advised me to wait until the baby was born, test the cord blood and if the baby was positive, I’d have the shot the next day. Both my kids are positive, got the shot both times. Carrying a third pregnancy fine, never had a miscarriage.
I would reccommend reading up on medical sites about the science behind it, which I’m sure you have already. Personal experience, I am Rh negative and my husband positive, so I received the Rhogham shot during my pregnancy and, I believe, one more after delivery. (If he were Rh- then there would be no “issue.”) I also think they tested my blood to make sure there were no antibodies present. I know that if you miscarry, or terminate a pregnancy, they will give you a shot as well if you are Rh negative just to be safe, even though at that point in a pregnancy there’s very little chance that your blood and the baby’s have mixed.
Yep, they’ll just check your blood for antibodies and give you the rhogam shot once in the third trimester (earlier if you have bleeding) and again at birth if baby is Rh+ (my daughter has my blood type so I only needed one last time, we’ll see very soon about this one!)
Rh disease really only affects subsequent pregnancies if you were to have an Rh+ baby, didn’t get the shots, and your blood mixed during pregnancy or delivery, it could be a problem if you had another Rh+ baby in the future. Very easily avoidable today though.
Feeling much better about this now. My mom made it seem like a huge deal. I can handle a couple shots.
Thanks Berries!
It is very easily handled these days, but it hasn’t always been. But my Mum was a 2nd baby born in 1961 to a RH- mother with a RH+ father, and she nearly died - the midwife said it was the worst case of RH disease she had ever seen, that she couldn’t believe that Mum was only a 2nd baby, that she was more like a 4th or 5th baby, and she HIGHLY recommended that my grandma not have any more children because they would likely die! [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t mean to scare you just saying that it’s great how medicine has advanced that these things don’t happen anymore.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] echoing what everyone else has said, my mom is RH- and we were all RH+, so she had to get injections with everyone. Actually, I think just everyone after the first, usually it isn’t a problem with the first baby unless there is bleeding early on. But then at birth some of the baby’s blood gets into the mother’s system and she develops antibodies against it, and then the later pregnancies can be a problem. It is not a big issue anymore, don’t panic!
[name_f]Glad[/name_f] to hear it’s not so scary now.
On a semi-related note, I was just reading this article yesterday about how one man has been supplying much of the plasma used in the Anti-D injection. Pretty incredible:
Whoa- why is the Rhogam shot illegal in [name_f]China[/name_f]? Is there some reason they would want to ban it?
I’m very curious to know, too. With the one child policy not many women would even need it, but why would it be banned?
The one child policy has been appended. If both parents are only children, then they may have two children.
Still strange that rhogam is not allowed.