You lot are brilliant. I came home from the midwife today feeling really concerned and upset, having heard that I have anti M antibodies, as the midwife really didn't know very much and wanted me to wait 5 weeks to see the consultant. I've looked on the internet and haven't found much but am very reassured by your posts (as always).

I went to the appointment on my own (thinking it was just a case of weeing in a pot and listening to the heartbeat as usual!) and tried to take in what I was being told. You mention the titre (level) - do any of you remember what the threshold is? I think she may have said 32 and my level is currently 16 (well, it was 13 weeks ago when they found out and forgot to tell me... ) I think that was supposed to be low risk but if any of you can confirm that it would be great (or send me in the direction for any more info).

I had Anti M - they wanted to monitor me more in my first pregnancy. The second pregnancy they just took blood every 4 weeks and although I needed to be under consultant care I still had her blessing for a home birth.

Both babies and myself were fine. They dont seem to know much about it just that it doesnt seem to cause any problem - especially if it has a low titre. Any questions just ask - I almost went mad in my first pregnancy so understand if you are worried - for me though it was nothing to worry about xx

I also today found out i have Anti m in my blood, When asking the nurse who took my second lot of blood today what it was she looked as confused as i did lol. By the sounds of what i've heard and read people don't seem to know much about it or worry about it. This is my 1st baby and im 12 weeks gone and i thought getting pregant was going to be the hard thing but every couple of weeks there seems to be something new to worry about!.

I wasn't going to join this wed site and just wanted to read peoples replys but its nice to know other people are going through the same thing and your not the only one.

Thanks for all your comments its made me feel better.

Don. x

Hi

I had anti M (well still have anti m lol). Nothing to worry about - my consultant and the blood work team dont seem to know what it is but know it doesnt cause hemolytic disease so that is the great news. Well technically it really really rarely causes it.

Very little is known about it - few studies but they are not bothered.

My titre (level) was very low - almost non existant or very low. As long as it doesnt reach over a certain point they are not bothered by it. I think if it goes high it may cause jaundice?

The problem comes for you if you need a blood transfusion they will want to match the blood with anti m blood - probably need to get it from a bigger blood bank. But you are unlikely to need it and im sure there is some blood they can give everyone (not sure of details).

The first pregnancy they monitored me every 4 weeks (very annoying) to see what would happen. They also said i couldnt have the home birth i wanted because of it but didnt seem to be able to give me a reason why.

This time they barely seem bothered - are measuring it again and if its low they will check infrequently. I am also allowed my home birth with no questions at all - so that says something!

Dont worry about it - it really isnt anything to concern yourself about. Dont google it - there is very little anyway and the very very occasional scare story (which just isnt the case). As a first time mum i was really concerned but had forgotten i had it until your message

Amyxx

Thank you for your help. I've been really worrying about this, but you've managed to give me some interesting info- which is more than my doctor's have!I'm still waiting for my results so I think I'm going to phone the hospital tomorrow. They ordered the tests so they should know the results. Thanks again

Just googled and found this, www.clinicalanswers.nhs.uk/index.cfm?question=5957. Hope that's helpful.

Hi Curlywurly, I have Anti E antibodies which were discovered in my first pregnancy after the first blood test. Have they tested your partner yet for his blood antigens? Essentially your antibodies will react to blood antigen 'm' so if your partner has this blood antigen there is a chance your baby has it too, and if your maternal blood was to mix with the fetal blood (the placenta stops this happening directly) your blood antibodies could attack your baby's blood which can cause serious problems (called Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn- HDN). Normally your blood won't mix with your baby's unless you have a bleed e.g. from placenta praevia or trauma e.g. a bad bump to your bump. To check that your blood isn't reacting just in case it has mixed the docs re-check your antibody levels usually every 4 weeks from 28 weeks (in the third trimester maternal-fetal blood mixing is more likely). The titre essentially assesses the amount of antibodies in your blood- so hopefully they will stay the same (ie. your blood is not reacting to your baby's). If the levels do start to rise they will increase monitoring by taking more frequent blood tests and possibly more scans. They usually have a threshold that once the antibodies go over calls for action (i.e. your blood is reacting to the baby's). In severe cases they have to do a blood transfusion in utero to your baby. BUT this is VERY rare. I have had two pregnancies, in my first my antibody levels did start to rise (my partner has the blood antigen I have antibodies to) so it seemed my blood might have been reacting with the baby's somehow (in spite of no trauma, bleeding etc) but they didn't reach the threshold for further action- saying that DS was born at 30 weeks due to pre-eclampsia (completely unrelated) so the antibodies didn't have much chance. He did have severe jaundice though which was in part due to the action of my antibodies on his blood.

With my second pregnancy my antibody levels didn't rise at all and I had a healthy girl at 36 weeks.

There's some more info at: www.clinicalanswers.nhs.uk/index.cfm?question=5957

and: www.bloodindex.com/haemolytic_disease_newborn.php

Please try not to be scared by all of this, it is VERY RARE that anti-M antibodies cause HDN but the docs are doing the correct monitoring just in case.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy- hope it all goes smoothly!

xx

sorry i cant help but bumping for someone who might be able to

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has heard of these and knows if there are any implications/ what they are. I'm 29 weeks and they found them when I had my first blood test. I had my bloods redone last week and apparently they are still there, but my midwife said they had to be titered or something. I'm still waiting for the results over a week later and am beginning to stress. I can't find any info about them and no one is telling me anything. Thanks