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ModlrMike t1_j1qaupw wrote

All Rh- pregnant women are given RHIg (WinRho, Rhogam etc) to minimize the chance that there is Rh incompatibility. While it is possible to assume that there will be no issues when both parents are Rh-, it is generally accepted practice to immunize the mother just the same. This page from Cleveland Clinic has a good explanation of the issue:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21053-rh-factor

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Voctus t1_j1qpyn0 wrote

Where I live they find out the fetus’s blood type and check for mismatch. There is enough fetal dna floating around in the mother’s blood to check things like blood type, gender, and chromosomal abnormalities (like Down’s syndrome).

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CartographerMore9712 t1_j1roe1t wrote

I work in a blood bank. From when the mother is greater than 12weeks gestation we can test the free fetal Dna is her blood to predict the baby’s Rh status. Only the women with predicted Rh positive babies will then receive the RhIg injection. With us the mothers will receive the RhIg injection routinely at 28weeks gestation but they will also receive it for any potential sensitising event throughout the pregnancy such as abdominal trauma or pv bleeds.

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Jimboats t1_j1rsy16 wrote

I think this must be country-dependent. In the UK all Rh- women are given the injection. I mean, how can you be certain that the father is really the father of that child? Surely that must give rise to a non-zero number of cases where there is a high risk of a baby being exposed unnecessarily?

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ohdearitsrichardiii t1_j1rw3wu wrote

They don't care about the (potential) father's blood type, they can tell the fetus's blood type from the mother's blood sample. I'm Rh-, they could see when I was about 10 weeks pregnant that my kids were Rh+ so I got the serum

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CartographerMore9712 t1_j1s0vuo wrote

They do free fetal DNA testing in the Uk. The IGBRL in Bristol is one of the major testing centres there. They can predict the Rh status of the baby from the baby’s DNA circulating in the mothers blood. About 35-40% of Rh- mothers will have Rh- babies. I will say not all maternity hospitals avail of this test but it is available

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