A Rhesus negative blood type and the pill?

[Gemma1984]

After reading a post in a previous question i have worried myself, some one posted that being A rhesus negative can affect the effectiveness of the contraceptive pill? Does any one know any more on this subject?

I have only recently found out my blood type after giving blood but now after reading this i am worried that my pill may not be working as it should be?

Can any one help to put my mind at rest or give me some advice?

[netibiza]

I am O negative and never had any problem with the pill - never heard of it.

[Gemma1984]

see this post

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Parenting/Question108163. html

[elleroo]

i am AB negative, the rarest blood group there is. ive been on the pill for years with no problems, come to think of it ive had no problems with any tablets etc due to my rare blood.

dont worry, im sure its just nonsense

[morg_monster]

Hi Gemma.  

Your rhesus status is separate from your blood group, no matter what blood group you have you can be either rhesus negative or positive.  About 42% of English people have blood group A.  The proportion of people with rhesus negative is 85%.  I can't find any stats on how many are A rhesus negative but at a guess it is 85% of 42% which is about 38% of the population (21 million or about 10 million women). 

I have had a quick search online and also on various medical literature databases I have access to, and it came up with no articles having anything to do with any problems.  Considering how many women are on the pill and how many are A-negative, there would definitely be information on it and we would all be told about it when we first started using it.

Don't worry. I have no idea where Hectic got his/her information but I'm sure it is not correct.

[greenspirit]

I have group A Rh neg blood and the only problem I have had was after having my kids I had to have an injection. If your blood is Negative and your partner is positive there is a likelihood that your children will be positive and this can cause problems - you can reject the foetus and can have problems if your bloods mix - not sure exactly what because I was fine.

[gingerflaps]

i too am Rh negative and i have been on the pill for 7 yrs now, when i 1st started taking the pill the doctor didnt even check what blood group i am. i have had no problems either

[Gemma1984]

thank you everyone that has put my mind to rest a little!

x

[morg_monster]

Gemma if you want to know more about what Greenspirit was talking about, rhesus negativity in pregnancy, then have a look at

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/refcap/1480.html

however notice this doesn't have anything to do with the contraceptive pill.

Also just realised I got my sums a little wrong, 85% are rhesus POSITIVE.  However it still ends up that millions of women are A Rh Negative so my argument still holds!