What Nobody Told Me About Being RH Negative During Pregnancy

In November 2007, I found out I was having my first baby. I was 19 years old, completely uninsured, and navigating a medical system I knew nothing about. I found a clinic in Independence, Kansas that offered payment plans for self-pay families, and I showed up to every single appointment without fail. I was doing everything right, or so I thought.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that doing everything right and being fully informed are two very different things.

The Appointment That Sent Me Home Crying

At 28 weeks, everything seemed fine. The baby was healthy. I was healthy. And then my doctor told me I was RH negative. She said it casually, with the same smile she wore at every appointment. When I asked what that meant, she didn’t explain the science. She didn’t walk me through my options. She simply told me that if I didn’t get a shot, my babies could die if I ever got pregnant again.

That was it. That was the entire conversation.

I drove home alone, crying, with no understanding of what was happening in my own body. No one told me the shot was optional. No one told me what it was made from. No one explained why my body might react the way it could in future pregnancies. I was just expected to comply, and at 19, I did.