Compliance with routine antenatal rhesus D prophylaxis and the impact on sensitisations: observations over 14 years

Documented routine antenatal anti-D prophylaxis was given to 90% and 81-87% of eligible women at 28 and 34 weeks of gestation, respectively, during the early 1990s and early 2000s. With increasing experience and education, a significant improvement in the timing of the first (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.16-0.41: P < 0.0001) and second injections (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.26-0.61: P < 0.0001) occurred during the latter period. Despite these improvements, there was no reduction in the sensitisation rate at 0.4%. However, this low rate occurred despite significant proportions of women delivering more than 42 days after the second injection. Fifteen of the 16 sensitised women had received routine antenatal prophylaxis.