Anti D injection, is it free from contamination??

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Just had to have my Anti D yesterday. I am currently 29 weeks pregnant with DC2 and my blood is rhesus negative which means I could potentially form anti bodies to the baby or future babies without this injection. I researched it last time when prgnant with DS and found out it was a blood product based upon human plasma similar to the factor 8 vaccine given to Haemophilliacs. Now I may be a little paranoid, I am blaming the pregnancy hormones! But am I at risk of infections such as Hepititis and HIV? There were cases of hepititis C being transmitted in the 90s through Anti D. Is this still an issue or is it safer now?

I had to get Anti D too - apparently it is much safer now but there is always a tiny risk of infection!

it contains the risk of hep c as it cant be screened for this. i refused this jab during both my pregnancies as it is mainly designed for the next baby rather than this one. for dd1 i didnt need it anyway as she is negative and dd2 was my last baby so i didnt accept it then either. n

I'm scared now. I'm due to get the Anti D injection in a few weeks time and the midwife never mentioned anything about infection risk. She just said I needed it.

anti-d is as safe as can be. there still is a residual risk but it is very very small.
usefull information here

Sorry really wasn't meaning to scare anyone else! I am not panicked about it as I realise the risks are minimal but it's still in the back of my mind. Thanks for your input anyway. I suppose the risks to the baby are a lot higher than the the risks to me so it's worth it but it's still a bit of a worry.

Im having mine tomorrow, read up on the risks and for me its a no brainer.

nowwearefour, I was in exactly the same position as you and also decided not to have anti-d. When DD was born, it was procedure only to administer after birth but DD was RH-ve so not necessary. With DS, i was booked in to get this but, as I knew it was almost definite he was -ve and he was going to be my last then I didn't get the jab. This decision was taken after a lot of research and discussion with medical professionals. (DS was -ve)

its better to have it done dont worry about it you wont catch anything from itxx

There is a very small theoretical risk. You have to make a decision after weighing up the risks and benefits of having the injection.

I am rh neg and decided to have the injection, but only after checking that my DH was rh +ve (if he had been rh- I wouldnt have bothered).

Dh is definitely rhesus positive as was DS1 so I had the injection last time both during pregnancy and after labour so I suppose there was a real risk of antibodies building up against this little one. I think I may be being paranoid but would it be worth getting tested Hepititis and other things again or would they think I was being crazy?!

i would just look up the symptoms and be aware - it is only hep c they cant scrfeen for and the risk is minimal. for me i couldnt see the benefits outweighed the risks but the balance is such a personal decision. v v unlikely you'll catch it so i wouldnt ask for a test unless you feel you have the symptoms later.

I'm having mine tomorrow too. Does it hurt? My MW told me on Wednesday it's in the bum and she thought a lot of 'preparation' was needed?!? Whatever that means!

No it didn't hurt a great deal. Just a slight stinging but certainly not as bad has having blood tests etc though I was given mine into the muscle at the top of my arm this time but after labour last time it was done on my bum and I don't think I even felt it! No idea what she means by preparation though lol. You'll have to let us know how that goes :-D Good luck, the actual injection itself is nothing to worry about in terms of pain I have found x

I had it with DD1 and will have it again in this pregnancy. Risk of infection is very small and I'd rather not risk something happening to the baby if I don't have it.
I have always had it in my upper arm, higher than normal jabs though, almost in my shoulder. It hurts a bit but I always think in the scheme of what's to come pain wise, one can't make too much of a fuss!

I had my anti-D jab at 30 weeks on Monday. It was in my upper arm and didn't hurt. I was able to drive straight after and had no issues carrying 21 month old DS. Had a blood test done just before from the opposite arm!

This is my 4th pregnancy and I have had the anti-D jab every time as DH is rh +ve. The only time I have had the jab on my bum was with DC1 and that was in Australia where they do many pregnancy related things different. Don't remember it being painful, just remember it was the first time in my first pregnancy anyone had looked near my bum : ) 3 kids later it doesn't embarrass me like it did that first time.

It says in the leaflet about it being a blood product with a small risk(Doesnt give stats). I guess not everyone gets one?

Have just done a search as wondered about this myself. Have found this "All donors are screened for hepatitis B and C, and HIV, and blood is only imported from countries - mostly the USA - free of variant CJD. The chance of contracting a virus through anti-D has been estimated to be 1 in 10,000 billion doses."

I had it with DD, and was told then that there is a small risk. I don't understand how hep C can't be ruled out as plasma comes from blood, so surely they screen blood for all known blood borne viruses before extracting plasma?

The risk that I was worried about was that I could be infected with a new blood borne virus that hasn't been discovered yet (like hep C wasn't known about back in the 70's). I was also told that if I don't have the injection I could suffer from miscarriages or give birth to anemic babies. I weighed up the options and decided that I needed to give any future babies a good chance and would take that tiny risk to give birth to a healthy baby in the future.

I think the stats are that is your partner is Rhesus +ve, you have a 3 in 4 chance of your baby being positive. If you are planning other children, it's a no brainer for me. My cousin's 6 week old baby is going back into hospital today for his second transfusion. He was born with rhesus disease of the newborn as a result of his Mum having developed antibodies after her first pg ended in a late MC (she wasn't given Anti D). Her daughter was in ICU for a couple of weeks when she was born, and needed one transfusion.
Her little boy was in ICU for 3 weeks, he got out briefly but had to go back in as bilirubin levels shot up again (newborns liver are not yet equipped to rid the body of bilirubin thrmselves), and he needed his first transfusion as haemoglobin dropped too low. He's only been out less than 2 weeks and now he has to go back in for his second transfusion.
When I went to visit in hospital, his little hands and feet were black & blue (as he had to have blood taken every 4 hours to begin with, then 6). They struggled to get a vein for his transfusion and the wee soul was screaming in agony whilst they tried. Very distressing for everyone.
It's one jag for you (and a second after birth, I think), with very low risk, but far bigger consequences for subsequent kids of you develop antibodies.
Just thought I'd share that.

I'm booked in for one when I'm 26 weeks - but they haven't tested my husband ... Surely it would make sense to test my husband first and only give me the jab if he is RH positive ... Can I ask my midwife if this is possible?

toto they will not test the potential father as the risk is too high that he isn't actually the father.
in addition to that, rhesus negative is much less common than rhesus positive so the prophylaxis makes sense.

Same for me, DH had to go throught GP as midwife couldn't be sure who the father was. Maybe not, but I could.