This is something that constantly bugs me. I know people do not understand Rhesus Disease, mostly because they don't know much about it or have never heard of it. It is the people who profess to know all about it that actually know nothing, or very little.
The most basic explanation I can give for Rhesus Disease is this....my blood has formed antibodies against anything that is Rh+, this includes our baby. My blood sees it as something foreign and immediately tried to get rid of it, killing the red blood cells is its way of doing it. So to put it bluntly, my body was trying to kill off our unborn child.
A pregnancy complicated by Rhesus Disease is more than just a few extra ultrasounds. Yes sure you do get more ultrasounds but there is no joy in each of these scans. They are for a purpose, they are to see if the baby is anaemic or showing any signs of anaemia. I know for myself, I knew exactly what number the middle cerebral doppler results had to be at. I know I want excited, I was filled with worry, with the what ifs, with the knowledge that our little baby could be very sick at each and every scan.
I guess I should also point out that Rhesus Disease is purely not being pregnant with Rh- blood. Being Rh- on its own is no issue but it seems that people think that because they are Rh- they have Rhesus Disease. Or that because you have had the Anti-D (Rhogam) injection that you have had Rhesus Disease and been treated for it. Quite simply you can not treat Rhesus Disease, after you have formed the antibodies no amount of anti-d will get rid of them. The anti-d injection is to prevent it, unfortunately like almost everything in life there is no 100%. It works the majority of the time but not all the time. Saying to a Mum with Rhesus Disease that you should just have the anti-d or that you should have had the anti-d and not understanding why they didn't have it...take a step back and think. They most probably did have it but it didn't work!
Another thing that bugs me is people telling others than an intrauterine transfusion is nothing more than a normal transfusion, just done like an amnio. It is a lot more serious than just a blood transfusion, the fact you are giving blood to an unborn child who is sick makes it a bit more serious than that. We had to endure 2 IUT this pregnancy with Riley. The first was at 29 weeks, although they can be done from as early at 18/19 weeks in some centers (even earlier in others I believe), the second was at 31 weeks. I will talk more in-depth about them later on but having a big needle put through your tummy, through the placenta into the umbilical vein to give your baby both a sedative and donor blood is a bit more serious than an amnio. The risks are high but the risk of losing your baby to anaemia or hydrops is much higher.
Well that is my little rant. I hope that this has explained the whole Rh thing to you if you had no idea and if you are someone who talks about it like you know all about it, I hope that this has given you some facts and truths to talk about rather than downplaying the severity of this horrible pregnancy complication.
The most basic explanation I can give for Rhesus Disease is this....my blood has formed antibodies against anything that is Rh+, this includes our baby. My blood sees it as something foreign and immediately tried to get rid of it, killing the red blood cells is its way of doing it. So to put it bluntly, my body was trying to kill off our unborn child.
A pregnancy complicated by Rhesus Disease is more than just a few extra ultrasounds. Yes sure you do get more ultrasounds but there is no joy in each of these scans. They are for a purpose, they are to see if the baby is anaemic or showing any signs of anaemia. I know for myself, I knew exactly what number the middle cerebral doppler results had to be at. I know I want excited, I was filled with worry, with the what ifs, with the knowledge that our little baby could be very sick at each and every scan.
I guess I should also point out that Rhesus Disease is purely not being pregnant with Rh- blood. Being Rh- on its own is no issue but it seems that people think that because they are Rh- they have Rhesus Disease. Or that because you have had the Anti-D (Rhogam) injection that you have had Rhesus Disease and been treated for it. Quite simply you can not treat Rhesus Disease, after you have formed the antibodies no amount of anti-d will get rid of them. The anti-d injection is to prevent it, unfortunately like almost everything in life there is no 100%. It works the majority of the time but not all the time. Saying to a Mum with Rhesus Disease that you should just have the anti-d or that you should have had the anti-d and not understanding why they didn't have it...take a step back and think. They most probably did have it but it didn't work!
Another thing that bugs me is people telling others than an intrauterine transfusion is nothing more than a normal transfusion, just done like an amnio. It is a lot more serious than just a blood transfusion, the fact you are giving blood to an unborn child who is sick makes it a bit more serious than that. We had to endure 2 IUT this pregnancy with Riley. The first was at 29 weeks, although they can be done from as early at 18/19 weeks in some centers (even earlier in others I believe), the second was at 31 weeks. I will talk more in-depth about them later on but having a big needle put through your tummy, through the placenta into the umbilical vein to give your baby both a sedative and donor blood is a bit more serious than an amnio. The risks are high but the risk of losing your baby to anaemia or hydrops is much higher.
Well that is my little rant. I hope that this has explained the whole Rh thing to you if you had no idea and if you are someone who talks about it like you know all about it, I hope that this has given you some facts and truths to talk about rather than downplaying the severity of this horrible pregnancy complication.
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