Pregnancy Bleeding & Rh Factor: What You Need to Know

Question
i am 30 yrs old, 1 child, she's 2 yrs old now.  the first day of last menstrual, 1/7/2006, preg. test is positive, last night i started to have bleeding, started light gotten a bit heavier this morning, waiting for docs to call back. last preg, had to have 2 Rhogam shots. at what point in this pregancy do i need to get this shot again?  could the bleeding be related to RH factor?  i am negative, hubby is positive, first baby is also positive.

Answer
The bleeding that you are having is not related to the fact that you are Rh negative. Every woman who is Rh negative (and whose partner is Rh positive) must get a RhoGam injection once at 28 weeks gestation and again withini 72 hours of delivering the baby in order to prevent the production of antibodies to the Rh factor. If you are negative and your husband is positive, it is most likely that the baby will be Rh positive. If you do not get rhe shot, your body will identify the baby as being "foreigh" and will produce antibodies against the baby. By taking the RhoGam injection at 28 weeks, your body will not make the antibodies and the baby will be safe. Your blood type or the baby's blood type will not cause you to bleed. If your last period started on January 7, you are now only around 5 weeks pregnant. It is quite common to have some spotting at this stage of pregnancy. However, it can also be the start of a miscarriage or "blighted ovum". This occurs in 15-20% of every pregnancy. There is nothing you can do to prevent a miscarriage and there is nothing you can do to cause one. It does not have anything to do with the fact that you are Rh negative.