Amnio: can they tell a babys RH Factor from the results?

[Linnet]

Just as a matter of interest can they tell what blood group and what Rh group a baby is from an amnio test?

i'm rh neg, and when i found out anti-d was a blood product ity tore me in two. i was bought up as a JW and even tho i am no longer one, some of their beliefs stay with me. blood products is one. i did have the injection in the end, but does anyone have the info on it. how long has it been used for? is there any possible problems later on?

Thank you everyone for your comments.

I am resigned to the fact that on Tuesday when I go in for my amnio they are going to give me Anti-D. Since there is nothing I can do about this before Tuesday I'm going to just go with it.

We are going to see if Dh's Dr will test him and I'm trying to persuade Dh to be a blood donor incase his Dr won't test him.

Mears thank you for the link to the guidelines that you gave me it made very interesting reading.
And thank you also for agreeing with me that my Dh should have his blood checked.
I know that the NHS is stretched moneywise and that not everybody wants their Dh/partner tested incase they aren't the father of the baby but as I said before I personally believe that if you ask for it to be done then you obvously don't have any worries and they should do the test for you.

I'm not keen on injections/needles at the best of times and the fact that I've read Anti-D is a blood product imported from another country makes me very wary. Obviously I don't want to compromise the health of my baby but I also don't want to be injected with a blood product that I might not even need.
If it turns out that my mother in law is wrong and Dh is RH Positive then I will happily have the Anti-D as I may need it incase the baby is RH+ve but until I know for sure I'll stick to my guns and insist on testing DH.

Linnet - you can get the results of the blood test very quickly. I would ask for it to be done today so that you will know if you need anti-D or not. You could phone your consultant and ask for it to be done at the antenatal clinic. You have a right to be in a position to make an informed choice.
The blood test is probably cheaper in the longrun than unecessary anti-D!

Mears we wouldn't have been able to get to the clinic today as they aren't open on a Monday and both DH and I work on a Monday anyway. I will have the anti-d tomorrow since it seems to be a standard procedure when doing amnio's but I'm definitely going to see about getting Dh tested. I was thinking that it would probably be cheaper to test dh than to give me unneccasary Anti-D but I wasn't sure.
Thanks for your advice and help though it's been very encouraging.
And I read last night on the Scottish Blood donors website that O- is quite rare and only 8% of the population have that type of blood. I'm a rare breed apparently and so is DD and most probably DH too.

Linnet

I'm O- myself and the Blood Service love people like us I'm constantly receiving phone calls/letters (and videos!) reminding me to go! Our blood can be tranfused into anyone

Good luck for your amnio tomorrow

Ds1 is O neg too, but they won't accept his blood in America, where he lives, because of BSE in the UK. It seems such a waste as I believe they are universal donors and very useful.

Ok, had my amnio today it went very well, not as painful asI thought it would be. I got the shot of Anti-D afterwards but talked to the midwife about it and how we think Dh is Neg. like me. She said that I should have the anti-D today as that is what they usually do and I was happy with that since I had resigned myself to the fact that they would do it anyway.
Then she said that Dh should go to his GP and say that he needs to know his blood and RH type and although they may charge him for the test it shouldn't be a problem and if he is Neg. then that is fine and I won't need to get the anti-D at 28 and 34 weeks.
So I'm a great deal happier about the whole thing and Dh is going to make an appointment to see his GP later on this week.

That's good Linnet. Glad you feel OK about it. Wouldn't it have been much easier all round for your DH to have been tested at the beginning of your pregnancy though? In fact, I think all Rh negative women should know their partners blood group prior to conception

misdee - the answer to your question is that the anti-D you had is unlikely to cause any problems. However, there were cases in Ireland a good few years ago where women contracted hepatitis C through contaminated anti-D. The process for making blood products safe is very rigorous however blood products always carry an element of risk. That is why it is better not to have it unnecessarly.
Do not worry about what you had in the past Misdee - I also have had anti-D. Anti-D was always given antenatally if there was a procedure performed that had a risk of bleeding (amnio) or if the mother had any pain or bleeding. Now all Rh neg women will get it twice during pregnancy - in many cases whether they need it or not. That is my problem with the guidance. If it is needed, good and well. If father is known to be Rh negative then it is not needed, hence saving the NHS a lot of money.

Maybe Rh- women should ask potential partners their Rh status before ever choosing them

glad I avoided it during pregnancy- as I didn't need it wih ds2.

Anohter question for you mears. I had a m/c at 7 weeks and was given antiD- is it necessary with a m/c that early, or would it have been wiser to have refused it? Not worrying about it- it's done- just interested in case it ever happened again.

I owuld have half chosen dh then tamum (he's heterozygous) Would have had to toss a coin

i only get offered anti-d once here, as long as i get within 72hours of birth. i have extra blood tests thro pregnancies, and i think they are introdsuing blood tests 6months after as well.

Yes Mears it would have been a lot easier to have dh tested at the beginning of my pregnancy but since the hospital were reluctant and with everything else that's been happening with this pregnancy it's been a very hectic and worrying past few weeks.
Even without having the amnio though I would have insisted on getting him tested, wasn't expecting to need an amnio but still it's done now. And Dh will be finding out what his blood group is. It wasn't an issue for me personally last time as it wasn't given during pregnancy and I didn't know as much about it then as I do now, but didn't need it then anyway.
I agree that all RH negative women should find out what blood group their partner/husband is so as not to receive uneccasary treatments and that way we could save the NHS some cash.

In all the discussion about anti-D I have forgotten to say I hope the amnio goes well Linnet. It is always so worrying to wait for results, sorry for not wishing you well.

Jimjams, the RCOG guidelines say that anti-D is not required before 12 weeks for spontaneous complete misscarriage, but is required is there has been surgical emptying of the uterus.

thank you Mears. the dr's think that the baby is probably going to be ok but I had the amnio just to be sure, else I would have worried myself sick for the rest of the pregnancy.

they got a clear sample so we should get some results back by Thursday fingers crossed

Hi, just a quick update here,

The amnio results came back clear. All chromosomes present and correct in the right places not to many not to few. We're being sent to Glasgow, (Queen Margarets or Mary's I forget still waiting for an appointment to come through) at 28 weeks for the cardiologists to check the baby's heart but my dr is sure it's nothing but better to check now while we can rather than wait.

I had anti-D after the amnio which I found was worse than the amnio. Mentioned to the midwife about how we're sure Dh is rh- like me. She said to get him tested and find out for sure.

So, Dh got his blood test done last week, results back today and he is O Neg just like his mother said he was. A copy of his results have been sent to the hospital to go in with my notes and I won't need to have the anti-d at 28 and 34 weeks.

I'm still of the opinion that everyone should know their own blood group, apparently if you ask the nurse/dr isn't legally allowed to tell you. I do think that instead of injecting RH Neg women with Anti-d they should test the Husbands/partners but I do understand their reasons for not doing this. But if the couple were to ask to be tested then I don't see the problem with it.