Possible miscarriage due to not having Anti D injection

[UnicornRainbow2]

Hi. So I just recently had a miscarriage at 11 weeks. We saw a heartbeat at 8 weeks and all was well and then I started bleeding around 10 weeks and they said baby hadn’t grown much after our first scan and had no heartbeat.

I had a baby 2 years ago during lockdown and didn’t have the anti d injection after birth so I just assumed that baby has the same blood as me but I don’t remember the midwives even checking his blood after birth or letting me know that I didn’t need it. Maybe they forgot? Who knows but now I worry that’s why my body rejected this pregnancy.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I am now worried about future pregnancies!

Sorry for your loss. If your blood group is positive they don't need to test the baby and you don't need anti d. Could this be the case?

And if you were rhesus negative, they should have given you anti D after a pregnancy or a loss as routine, then booked you in to have a repeat injection at (I think) about 20 weeks. So it's negligent if you are a negative blood group if they didn't do that.

As far as I know the baby's blood is always tested at birth (from cord blood I think), I doubt something so important (for Rh- mothers) would have stopped even during covid. If you didn't have anti-d then it would be because it wasn't needed.

blood tests can also be done at 20 weeks now on your blood which can determine your babies blood group - do you remember that happening in your last pregnancy?

If you're rhesus neg, they would have taken cord blood from the placenta after the birth and sent it to the lab to discover what blood group baby was. You don't automatically get anti-D. If baby was rhesus neg as well, you wouldn't have needed it.

Fair enough.
My experience of automatically being given anti d was after an early missed miscarriage so nothing to test for blood group as I didn't opt for medical management of it.

Hi. I am rhesus negative. I’ve had 2 children and neither times did I have the anti d injection after birth. Could both my children also be rhesus negative?

Hi. I had the anti d at 28 weeks in both my pregnancies but it’s after birth I am worried about. There was just no mention of it.

I can’t believe that you wouldn’t have been given these injections if you needed them so guess both your DC are also rhesus negative. I am so sorry about your loss. And can see you are searching for answers but sometimes there are no explanations. It is estimated that a quarter of pregnancies end in miscarriage. You can certainly ask your doctor for more information about the anti-D and am sure it will be reassuring.

Sorry but how do they check the babies blood at 20 weeks? In any case that didn’t happen in my last pregnancy.

I am now having an anti d injection today as I had my d&c yesterday.

What blood group is your husband?

When I had my first (23 years ago) I was told I wouldn't need anti d again as it protected me for future pregnancies when I had my second 14 years ago the protocol had changed

Unfortunately miscarriages at around 20 weeks arent that uncommon and may have absolutely nothing to do with your blood group. Pretty sure babies blood group is tested at birth if you are negative, maybe varies by hospital but dsd was tested and is negative

Sorry for your loss. Don't you have the blood group of your 2 children in their notes from birth? What blood group is your DH?

If you want to know for peace of mind, request your notes from the previous pregnancy.

If the babies father was also Rh- then the baby would be Rh- too and you wouldn't need anti d after the birth. Not all areas test for the baby's blood group during pregnancy and give routine anti d instead

I don't know anything about blood types etc but @gotomomo miscarriages at 20 weeks are uncommon. There's a 0.6% of having one after 20 weeks.

You get anti d after a miscarriage (if after 12 weeks I think) or birth but no extra follow up one at 20 weeks

@gotomomo the OP was 11 weeks pregnant not 20 weeks.

Are you absolutely sure that you didn't have anti D after giving birth? If you had it at 28 weeks then I'd be astonished if you didn't after birth.

Both your babies could be rhesus negative or they could be positive. It depends on their father's blood type. Do you know his blood type?

Did baby 2 have any problems relating to sensitisation before or after birth? If not then it is vanishingly unlikely that your miscarriage had anything to do with your blood type.

There is a great FB group called Antibodies in Pregnancy: an AHF support group which you can join. It'll give you detailed advice and support.

You do need to follow this up with your hospital to find out what has happened.

Its given routinely in pregnancy if the baby's blood group is unknown. The cord blood is then tested after birth and anti d given if the baby is Rh+ and not given if they are Rh-

Yes this is my experience. I'm RH Negative and DH is positive. I had injections in both pregnancies around 28 weeks and then when each if my DS was born they checked cord blood. It's not something I saw happen or was aware of but I do vaguely remember them telling me that they were both RH negative too so I didn't have injections after their birth either time.
It might just be that you've forgotten the conversation or they didn't clearly communicate it to you at the time, but it wasn't needed?

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm Rhesus negative and after my last Dd was born,the hospital tried to discharge me whilst I was still waiting for my jab. I had to remind them that I couldn't leave as I hadn't yet had it.
On the plus side,I had episodes of bleeding during both pregnancies and both times was given the jab,once at home when it arrived by taxi,with the midwife coming around later to administer it.
I hope you can find some resolution.

I’m very sorry for your loss. Miscarriage is very hard and it’s natural to want to seek a reason but unfortunately there often isn’t one.

I had anti-d with both my dc - though I don’t actually remember having it after dc2 in the post birth haze. But have checked my notes and definitely did.

OP, the process for giving anti-D is slightly different depending on what hospital you're in and when you had your babies.
Until a couple years ago, anti-D was routinely given around 28/40 to all rhesus negative women, as well as after any "sensitising event" (a bleed, a fall onto your front, a car accident etc). Then the baby's blood was tested at birth by taking some blood from the cord. If baby was negative, no further anti-D would be given; if positive, another dose would be given.
Recently, some hospitals have started testing the baby's blood in utero by looking for fragments of fetal DNA in the mum's blood. So a blood test is done around 16/40 and if the baby is found to be rhesus negative no anti-D is given in the pregnancy.
If the baby is found to be rhesus positive at 16/40 then anti-D is given as per the schedule above. Cord bloods are still taken at birth to confirm the baby's blood type, but the in-utero testing is around 98% accurate.
In your case, OP, I would assume your first 2 babies were both rhesus negative and that's why no anti-D was given post-birth. It's a huge, HUGE deal if cord blood isn't checked when mum is rhesus negative, and there are several points in the postnatal process where different HCPs will check that result. If ever the cord blood hasn't been taken, it's usually picked up at the EON, and blood will be taken from the baby's heel or from a cannula to determine their blood type. For the baby's blood test to be missed by all the relevant clinicians, twice in the same family, would be vanishingly rare.
I'm sorry about the loss of your baby. Do you have good support around you?

I will check my notes. Would they have written that down? Didn’t think to check! Thankyou.!

Not sure on husbands blood type. I’m pretty sure my first child has my blood which is why I didn’t need the injection after birth but there was no mention of it at my 2nd birth. Unless I was just totally out of it i definitely did not have the injection.

I am negative. They tested during pregnancy and I had injections then as well as after birth. I had a c section though so don’t remember it being done but sure they just did what they needed to do.