Rubella immunity test

[Lou573]

Hi ladies, just wondering if anyone knows whether the rubella immunity test would show up that you're pregnant? I had one last week which was meant to be preconception but it turned out that I was already pregnant at the time.

When I phoned for the test result today I could only be told that the doctor wanted to see me. I have now booked a consultation but am so anxious over what it might be. I thought the rubella test would simply say immune / not immune and wouldn't require a consultation? The only thing I can think of is that the test showed I was pregnant and the doctor wants to tell me (hadn't yet informed the surgery until I rang for test results). Is that likely? Does the rubella test also show pregnancy? Does it test for anything else?

Any insights welcome, getting myself a bit worked up here! Thank you

If you really only had rubella test then that would just be looking for rubella antibodies, not Hcg, and therefore would not show you're pregnant. If you're not immune, the appointment might be to discuss vaccination, I would think.

Thank you. Is it very bad if you're not immune? Obviously I realise it's very bad if you catch the illness, but I imagine that many women with unplanned pregnancies don't have the preconception test? (rather than just poor planning like me). In my defence, the GP seemed to think that the test was only done once pregnant, it was only because my consultant had suggested I get it done...

Considering the high vaccination rates for rubella, I don't think it's that scary if you're not immune. There were only 8 cases of congenital rubella syndrome reported in the UK between 2002 and 2011.

No it won't show pregnancy - the blood test just looks for rubella antibodies.

It may be that the result is that you're non-immune and the doctor wants to discuss this with you. The usual recommendation is that you have 2 doses of MMR vaccine but if you're pregnant already you can't have it, as it's a live vaccine in which case they'd give you a dose after delivery and another a month later.

I agree with others its probably to discuss lack of immunity. For what it's worth I found out I wasn't immune during my first pregnancy and the advice was to make extra sure I avoid situations where I might contract the disease but apart from that no one seemed that concerned and I was fine. I was however reminded (a few times) to book in for rubella immunisation after giving birth.

Thanks all, I think that's a bit reassuring. I'm usually quite level-headed but seem to be panicking about anything and everything when it comes to pregnancy.

Oh that's normal to panic, you don't want to know how many times I convinced myself I have toxo during my first pregnancy

Another thing to bear in mind is that you can have had the vaccine and it can not have worked. I definetly had it some years before getting pregnant for the first time but when I did the test to check it showed no immunity to rubella.