Does every pregnant woman out there know their blood group?

[mears]

And if not, why not?

At booking your blood is taken to find out what group you are and if you have any antibodies. It surprises me to find out that women don't often know the result unless they are Rhesus negative. And surprisingly they don't ask for test results either? That is why I am asking the question.

Thanks LeahH - i knew someone would know! That has put my mind at rest for when we ttc soon!

Yes SKYTVADICT, you could have a baby who was A -ve. As LeahE says there is usually no problem with having a negative baby. Rhesus antibodies are only a problem with negative mothers with positive babies.

MrsRecycle, you should be retested at 34 weeks for antibodies as there are different ones which may or may not affect a baby at all.

eenywifemum - looking forward to hearing your DH's result.

I am A rhesus negative and have know this since way before pregnancy due to mum and sister also being the same group.

QUESTION FOR MEARS: How do we find out the blood group for dd..?? I know mine from my mum so surely I should know what my dd's is..?? I asked after delivery and upon discharge but was told I don't need to know it.? Is this true. ? Doesn't sound right to me. Blood was taken from dd at birth ( as usual I presume) so surely they know the blood gruop from this.?

I am B negative and dh is A negative so I did have anti-D in my first pregnancy and will probably get it in this one too. All I know is that dd must be something positive as I had the anti-D after her birth. We were never told what blood group she actually was though. My blood results were all written in my maternity care plan by the midwife e.g. immunity to rubella, haemaglobin level, blood group, etc, etc although I knew my blood group from giving blood in the past so knew what it was before pregnancy anyway.

Seona1973 - check out your DH's blood group. Two negative parents cannot have a positive baby.

If he is negative it may be that where you had your baby, negative women are given anti-D regardless of baby's group which is totally unecessary.

shhh - your baby's blood group will be recorded in your notes. You could write to the hospital and ask for that information.

Sorry, meant dh was B positive - must have been typing too quickly

even worse now!!! - he is A positive (I am B negative)

have you got a result for DH yet eenywifemum?

I am O RH positive. I found this out about 14 years ago when I started to give blood. Was never told DD's blood group and she is almost 4.

Hi Mears! Thanks for asking... No and I am really annoyed - they said the blood test results would be ready by Wednesday or Thursday and as of Friday they still didnt have them and no explanation why. It is so frustrating! Seems like such a simple thing and they have turned it into a big hassle. We are phoning them up on Monday and HOPEFULLY they will have them by then! I will post on here as soon as we get them though...

REALLY hoping he is negative to prove the point to them that it was worth while but if he isnt, oh well, it would still have been worth looking into.

Hi Mears - an update - DH called the surgery today to try to get the results and was told they have LOST THEM. My god they make one mistake after another. I am so angry.

Now - having said that - there was a message left on our phone tonight asking him to please call them back tomorrow - here is hoping that is because they FOUND the results - not that they need him to get more blood drawn!!

This has been such a frustrating experience! I know it isnt serious in the scheme of things I just wish they didnt have to make a simple thing complicated. I'll keep you posted!! We should throw a party when we eventually get the results !

What happened? Guess they didn't phone back saying they'd found the sample?

Hi Mears - Well we officially found out yesterday they have lost the results AND the blood. (well done!) So DH is getting ANOTHER blood test next week, I think he said on Tuesday. So I suppose now we will find out early the following week? If they can manage to hang on to his blood! Wow, this is really funny isnt it? I know mistakes happen so I shouldnt be annoyed when they happen to me, but I just find it ironic that they lost the blood for the blood test they clearly never wanted to give us in the first place!! I will keep you posted on the saga!

I found out I was O rhesus negative following the results of the set of blood tests taken at 16 weeks. I was sent a leaflet about Anti D injections in the post together with results of the blood tests, and have since been given the doses at 28 and 34 weeks (am 38 wks now).

However I haven't had any further blood tests at all since week 16 ? does this mean they are not monitoring something that should be monitored?

I didn?t consider not having the injections as my partner is definitely A+ (though we have subsequently found out his mum is Rh -ve, so I think this means there is a 1 in 4 chance the baby could be ?ve too. No way of knowing this in advance though.)

Pain tip - I was asked (to my surprise, was expecting a shot in the arm!) whether I?d prefer the injection in my thigh or bum. At the first appointment I opted for the thigh and it really hurt ? so went for the bum second time which was MUCH better, hardly felt it at all. So go for the flabbiest area possible is my top tip!

I do now as I have type C antibodies and have a little card which I am supposed to give the doctor if I am admitted to hospital.

Still not entirly sure why it makes any difference when i'm not pregnant though.

Makes a difference if you need blood crossmatched for you for any reason nutcracker.Takes a bit longer if you have antibodies.

FirstatForty - no you don't need any other blood tests than the ones planned. It is only if you had antibodies detected that you need closer monitoring. The best place for anti-D to be absorbed is actually in the arm. It has been a criticism highlighted that it is often given in the thigh or bum where absorption is poorer. That means it is less likely to work. However, many midwives have not been trained to give injections in the arm so have continues giving it in the leg or bum. Leg is better than bum because there is usually less fat.

eenywifemum - that is so frustrating!! Same thing happened with my DH's blood sample years ago. He was being tested because I had antibodies and we were trying to find out the chsnces of having positive babies. As it turns out, DH can only father positive babies so it meant we difinitely knew what we were in for when having more children.

A+

And I only know because of my pregnancy notes. Have no idea what the children are (despite ds once having blood tests) or dh.

MEARS!!! We FINALLY got the result! Oh it has been a nightmare. After losing his BLOOD they had to take more & said it would be ready the next day... the next day they said it would be the day after that... AND AGAIN! We finally found out today.

Phew.

Ok he is RH+. Which means I will have to have the anti-D. But I dont regret fighting to find out as it should always have been our choice anyway and we had a right to know. If he HAD been - then I should have known that so I could refuse Anti-D if I wanted to.

Anyway! The drama has finally ended! Hope you spot this post!

Glad you finally got a result! At least you know that you are not having something that is totally unnecessary. I would have done the same thing if I hadn't known DH's blood group.

Thanks Mears it is nice hearing that from someone after all the strife we had getting the result.