Is rhogam dangerous?

Question

My doctor says i need a rhogam shot, because my blood typre is A- and when I asked him if there were any side-effects, he said no, but when i researched it on the net, I came across a few concerns like arthritis and autism...please tell me more/ personal experiences.

Answer 1

1) Get the freeze dried one called WinRho this contains no preservatives, it doesn't need them as it is freeze dried. Mercury (thermisol) and it's replacement which uses aluminum are the concern

2) It is a human blood product, there are always risks.

3) The difference between getting a shot at 26 weeks (or whenever they are doing it) and the difference between NOT getting it. Are very, very small. The important one is the one aftet birh, and even then, you will only need it if your baby has rh+ blood. Which they probably will not.

4)Even then, if you are uncomfortable getting the shot, ever, if you take care to have a gentle birth, preferably with a midwife, preferably at home. With no pain killers or labour inducing medications or herbs, the chances of sensitization are small. So you can decline.

5) Even if you do become sensitized, only future rh+ babies are at risk. The risks are small, and while it does increase the chances of miscarriage any problems that occur at birth can generally be treated. This is of course only a problem if you have more children. The shot is only to protect FUTURE children, not your current baby.

Answer 2

Years ago, when rh negative women often had one healthy child then suffered multiple miscarriages and stillbirths and no one knew why. Now we've figure out that rh negative women carrying rh positive babies are sensitized to the fetus' blood when the pregnancy ends - whether it be through miscarriage, abortion or childbirth. If the woman is sensitized, she develops antibodies and further pregnancies are jeopardized.

Nowadays, whenever an rh woman gets pregnant, she is given Rhogam when pregnant (unless her partner is PROVEN to also be rh negative). Rhogam is a blood product made from plasma and is carefully matched, crosstyped and checked. Of course receiving Rhogam has the same dangers as receiving any other blood product. If the baby is also rh negative, everything is fine and no further injection is needed.

However if baby is rh positive, a second injection of Rhogam is given within 72 hrs of birth. I don't know about risks to the mother, I give Rhogam all the time and I've never heard of any. But the risk to the fetus if Rhogam is not given is a very good chance of serious illness, miscarriage or death to an rh positive fetus, so I'd say that's a pretty significant risk.

The invention of Rhogam in the 1960's is one of the most significant developments in obstetrical medicine, it saves thousands of babies' lives every year.

Maybe this history of Rhogam will help you understand:
http://www.jnj.com/innovations/new_features/RhoGAM.htm
http://www.rhogam.com/English/Patients/aboutPatientsRhogam.aspx

I tried to find things on the internet that might make me understand what kind of side effects you were talking about and only came up with completely insane websites from unauthorized sources such as this one:

http://www.vaccinetruth.org/rhogam.htm

First of all this guy is a D.C. - that's a chiropractor. Second of all, he mentions mercury and thimersol which are no longer used in most vaccines, including Rhogam. Third of all, and this one really blew my mind, he claims in the last paragraph you can change your blood type by eating certain foods. Um...what?!? How anyone can take that seriously is beyond me.

Answer 3

1st of all if you don't get the shot your body will fight off the baby b/c you may not have matching blood types. like everything you taje there are possible side effects but this is something you need to take i've done it with both my children and they're fine. take the shot you'll have more complications if you don't.

Answer 4

mercury is still in shots, ask ahead of time for a mercury-free shot! They are available! They are linked to autism because babies born from mothers who received the shot have trace amounts of mercury in their blood. I didn't know that until after the fact, but we don't vaccinate him anyways so hopefully he's fine, he's a toddler now and has no signs of it.

Answer 5

absoultely NOT. not taking rhogam is waaaay more dangerous to your baby, and more importantly to any future children you might have. the benefits outweigh any possible, and very minute amounts, of risk.

Answer 6

if you don't take it your body will reject the baby