The woman had a negative Rh factor. In order for the future baby not to suffer, immunoglobulin injections were needed. But getting them turned out to be difficult.
With this publication, we open a series of stories about supermoms. Tells us about them Tatiana Butskaya, head of the social movement “Council of Mothers”.
Each woman with the birth of a new life in her turns into a supermama – a woman with “supernatural” abilities. For the sake of her child, she is ready to move mountains and do the impossible. In this section, I will talk about supermoms who were able to defend the interests of their baby, no matter what.
The first heroine of a series of stories will be a resident of the Omsk region Anna P.
Anna P. had heard about how “the daughter was not lucky to be born with a negative Rh factor” since childhood. It would seem a trifle about the complications that this one brings with it, my mother told the girl at the age of 10. Even then, Anya understood: if a woman has a negative Rh factor, and a man has a positive one, their future baby may suffer from a Rh conflict.
Rhesus conflict (immune conflict) is a condition in which the mother’s immune system begins to fight the body of an unborn child. The reason for this “war” is a specific protein (in other words, an antigen), which is located on the surface of blood cells. It’s called Rhesus. If there is this protein in the blood of a person (there are 85% of them among us), it is called Rh-positive, if not – Rh-negative. The presence or absence of the antigen does not matter, but only until the Rh negative woman is pregnant with the Rh positive baby or a blood transfusion is required. In both cases, a specific protein can cause problems. In the case of a pregnant woman, it provokes the production of antibodies that are hostile to the child’s body.
Rh negative occurs in only 15% of people
During the first pregnancy, they are not so scary – Anya, as a specialist with a medical degree, knew this long before the “striped” test appeared. The fact is that the IgM antibodies produced by the immune system of a Rh-negative woman are not yet so aggressive when they first encounter this specific protein. They are large and clumsy, so it is difficult for them to overcome the placental barrier and enter the fetal bloodstream. The probability of Rh-conflict in this case is very small and amounts to no more than 1%. Pregnancy usually goes without complications and ends with the birth of a healthy baby. During the gestation of the eldest baby, Anya had almost everything like that. Sonny Danis was born full-term and on time.
With the second pregnancy, which came after 3 years, it turned out to be not so simple. The older baby was Rh-positive, so Anna’s body was already familiar with a protein foreign to him. This meant that at the slightest ingress of rhesus into the mother’s bloodstream, the immune system would begin to produce IgG antibodies. They are small and fast: they quickly overcome the placental barrier and begin to destroy the blood cells of the fetus. If this process goes too far, the fetus experiences oxygen starvation, metabolism and blood circulation are impaired. In other words, the Rh-conflict develops.
And so, on the thirteenth week, Anna developed bloody discharge, with which she was urgently hospitalized in the hospital. Anna, as a physician, understood that she needed injections of anti-rhesus immunoglobulin to neutralize maternal antibodies. It is usually administered to Rh-negative pregnant women at 28 weeks, but there are times when the drug is needed earlier.
With the appearance of bloody discharge (just Anya’s case), conducting invasive tests (chorionic biopsy, amniocentesis, cordocentesis), removing one of the embryos in multiple pregnancies, suturing for isthmic-cervical insufficiency, doctors should inject anti-rhesus immunoglobulin into the woman’s body. It will “freeze” the production of antibodies hostile to the baby for 12 weeks and protect him from possible problems.
Anna was waiting for the necessary procedures, but the doctor said that there was no immunoglobulin in the hospital.
“Buy at your own expense,” the doctor just shrugged when asked what to do.
Anna was given a recipe (the girl noticed that it was not stamped) and asked to give it to her relatives. This surprised her: in her own antenatal clinic, the same injection was given absolutely free. Anna looked on the Internet: it turned out that immunoglobulin in local pharmacies costs at least 3800 rubles. But my mother has no extra money on maternity leave. Anna called the insurance company and found out that in the hospital they should give her this injection free of charge, which she told the doctors. The manager replied to this: “I do not know when he will enter, wait!”
Anna called the Ministry of Health’s drug hotline. It was Friday and she was told they would call back on Monday. It took three days to wait. The doctors said that in Anna’s case this was not a critical period, but she was worried. If in late pregnancy, Rh-conflict can lead to premature birth and the development of hemolytic disease in a newborn, then in the early stages it can lead to miscarriage. Needless to say, how scary it is?
It’s Monday. Anna did not wait for the call from the Ministry of Health, so she decided to call back again. On the other end of the line, she was told that her question had been resolved: the injection would be given during the day during the procedures. And so it happened.
In conclusion of this story, I want to add that our heroine behaved very competently. Firstly, immunoglobulin is included in the list of vital drugs (see Appendix No. 1 to the order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated October 23, 2017). Secondly, they provide it absolutely free of charge (pay attention to article 34 of the Federal Law of November 29, 2010 No. 326-FZ “On compulsory health insurance in the Russian Federation”). Thirdly, your registration does not matter. If you are in the Omsk region, and are registered in Moscow (or vice versa), insist on providing the necessary assistance. The law is on your side.
If, for some reason, you bought the immunoglobulin yourself, you have the right to reimburse the costs incurred by you. However, to do this, you will need to provide evidence indicating that you have been denied a life-saving drug. To do this, it is not at all necessary to have a written refusal from the hospital management in hand. An audio or video recording is sufficient.
So girls, don’t give up! Next time I will tell you about how one of the supermams was able to get rid of painting the entrance with lead paint, which is very dangerous for young children.