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Original poster

How to find out blood type?

71 replies

Busband · 26/01/2025 14:27

DD asked me what hers is and I realised I have no idea what my own is!

apart from giving blood is there any way to find out?

OP posts:
ShowOfHands · 26/01/2025 14:28

Do you have any of your pregnancy notes?

dementedpixie · 26/01/2025 14:33

I found out from giving blood as did dh

FindusMakesPancakes · 26/01/2025 14:35

Giving blood was how I found out.

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VividBlue · 26/01/2025 14:42

It is on pregnancy notes but if you can’t find that Amazon do tests. My DH did one to confirm what his was and it worked quite well.

Original poster
Busband · 26/01/2025 14:44

I think I have pregnancy notes from my first still somewhere, will dig them out this week!

OP posts:
VividBlue · 26/01/2025 14:45

If not these are the tests you can buy…

How to find out blood type?
Teenagerantruns · 26/01/2025 14:53

I'm pretty sure my kids blood group were in thier red book, but that was 30 years ago, do they still have red books?

TokyoSushi · 26/01/2025 14:57

I only found mine out when I was pregnant, which is a bit of an extreme measure!

dynamiccactus · 26/01/2025 15:22

I found out by giving blood.

dynamiccactus · 26/01/2025 15:23

Teenagerantruns · 26/01/2025 14:53

I'm pretty sure my kids blood group were in thier red book, but that was 30 years ago, do they still have red books?

Not in my son's red book and he is 22 now.

Wasn't in pregnancy notes either.

Original poster
Busband · 26/01/2025 15:31

I’ll have a look at my notes and if not order a test.
dont know why they’re not freely available in this country!

OP posts:
Original poster
Busband · 26/01/2025 15:31

Yeh I don’t think they’re in the red book but I have the discharge summary from my first pregnancy so they may be on there

OP posts:
3678194b · 26/01/2025 15:34

Yep I only know through pregnancy! Not sure it was ever written down I just remember.

I can't donate blood as being an AB+ the 'universal recipient' it's not wanted whenever I've tried to book in 😭

Greybeardy · 26/01/2025 15:54

Busband · 26/01/2025 15:31

I’ll have a look at my notes and if not order a test.
dont know why they’re not freely available in this country!

it's not freely available because in the clinical context (where you might need to receive blood) we'd never just go on what the patient tells us their group is. In pregnancy it's important to know rhesus status so they can plan anti-d if necessary, but in most other contexts it just isn't that useful to know. It's also not a particularly cheap test to do so in terms of healthcare economics it doesn't make much sense just to do it because a person's interested. If you want to pay for it yourself then that's your choice, but it wouldn't mean you'd receive blood any quicker in an emergency or anything like that.

PermanentlyFreezing · 26/01/2025 16:09

Most people find it either by being pregnant or by giving blood.

I was never able to give blood when younger (low weight then anti-malarials after a trip to Africa) so found out when pregnant. I’m O- which meant Anti-D jabs when pregnant. I insisted on DH being tested because if he was also rhesus negative then there was no need for Anti-D. GP wasn’t for doing it, but eventually agreed if we agreed to pay for the test, which we did, although they never billed us for it.

As it turns out DH is B+ so all my DC were tested at birth to see if another dose of Anti-D was needed. Only one of them actually has it in their notes though - 1 out of 4 of them! It’s not in their red book either, it’s in their hospital notes which we only have copies of because we lived overseas for a few years and had to get physical copies of all our medical notes to take with us.

DC1 must be rhesus positive because I remember a post-natal dose of Anti-D - whether they are O or B positive though I have no idea. DC2 must be rhesus negative because I remember there was no need for a post-natal dose, but again, whether they are O or B negative I have no clue. DC3&4 are identical twins. It’s one of them that has it in their hospital notes, so I know they are O- but the other one has nothing noted. As they are identical, they must both be O- but I have no idea why one was noted and the other wasn’t.

It has always baffled me that so many people in the U.K. have no idea what blood group they are

*edited for typo

MumChp · 26/01/2025 16:10

Just for fun. Use an Eldon card.

cakeorwine · 26/01/2025 16:10

Ask your parents what theirs is.

That should rule some out.

VividBlue · 26/01/2025 16:11

How come people used to know them in the old days? My parents/grandparents always knew what blood type they were.

cakeorwine · 26/01/2025 16:11

Or join the army and have it on your dog tag?

nocoolnamesleft · 26/01/2025 16:12

Your blood type would have been checked in pregnancy. Your baby's blood type would only have been checked if you were Rhesus negative.

Ohnonotmeagain · 26/01/2025 16:14

PermanentlyFreezing · 26/01/2025 16:09

Most people find it either by being pregnant or by giving blood.

I was never able to give blood when younger (low weight then anti-malarials after a trip to Africa) so found out when pregnant. I’m O- which meant Anti-D jabs when pregnant. I insisted on DH being tested because if he was also rhesus negative then there was no need for Anti-D. GP wasn’t for doing it, but eventually agreed if we agreed to pay for the test, which we did, although they never billed us for it.

As it turns out DH is B+ so all my DC were tested at birth to see if another dose of Anti-D was needed. Only one of them actually has it in their notes though - 1 out of 4 of them! It’s not in their red book either, it’s in their hospital notes which we only have copies of because we lived overseas for a few years and had to get physical copies of all our medical notes to take with us.

DC1 must be rhesus positive because I remember a post-natal dose of Anti-D - whether they are O or B positive though I have no idea. DC2 must be rhesus negative because I remember there was no need for a post-natal dose, but again, whether they are O or B negative I have no clue. DC3&4 are identical twins. It’s one of them that has it in their hospital notes, so I know they are O- but the other one has nothing noted. As they are identical, they must both be O- but I have no idea why one was noted and the other wasn’t.

It has always baffled me that so many people in the U.K. have no idea what blood group they are

*edited for typo

Edited

If you’ve never needed blood typing then why would you know? Hardly baffling.

my dc are healthy so have never had a blood test, and typing isn’t routinely done. They are definitely O, probably positive but there’s a slight chance they’re O neg.

but dh and I both give blood so we know we’re both O+, so with ours fairly straightforward.

Greybeardy · 26/01/2025 16:15

cakeorwine · 26/01/2025 16:10

Ask your parents what theirs is.

That should rule some out.

....or just every so often it creates a bit of drama! (it's not 100% unheard of for people to find out their parents are in fact not their biological parents)

dementedpixie · 26/01/2025 16:15

I'm B- and dh is A+ so I needed anti-d in both of my pregnancies and after the birth so I guess both my kids are rhesus +. Don't know their full blood type though which could be A, B, AB or O.

Lukedid · 26/01/2025 16:18

OP: "apart from giving blood is there any way to find out?"

Some posters:
"I found out from giving blood".
"Giving blood is how I found out".

😅

Theunamedcat · 26/01/2025 16:18

I've received anti D during all my pregnancies but they haven't actually tested the children (if they have its not in there red books) they said its "just in case" I have a positive baby ex husband was told he "didn't need to know" his blood type when he asked (he asked because I was pregnant) so they knew and just decided he didn't need to know I'm not sure why the information is such a closely guarded secret what are people going to do with this information?