It doesn't really affect your health in any way, but can be dangerous for future children and in rare cases, first time pregnancies. There are a lot of websites that explain RH- a lot better, and I encourage you to read about it more, but I can give you a little overview and hopefully explain it fairly well. It's odd your doctor didn't explain things to you.

So most people are RH positive, which simply means that their blood has the RH factor, an inherited protein found on the surface of red blood cells. An RH- mother and an RH positive father may conceive an RH positive baby. There is then a danger that, during pregnancy and especially during labor and delivery, some of the fetus's RH positive red blood cells may get into the mother's bloodstream.

Because of the RH factor in the baby's blood, it will seem foreign to a woman's body if she's RH- and she will start to produce antibodies to fight off the RH factor-- that's called sensitization. When sensitization happens, her RH antibodies can cross the placenta and attack some of the fetus's red blood cells, which causes RH disease.

The shot you had in your hip is to prevent sensitization. You'll probably get another one soon after delivery if you baby tests RH positive. The shot pretty much tricks your body into thinking it's got everything under control and it won't produce the antibodies so future pregnancies won't be affected.

It's hard to explain, so here are some pictures.

Do you know if the father is RH positive?

no hes never had blood drawn before...that he can remember

They probably just gave you the shot to prevent sensitization-- I've read they norammly give it around 28 weeks and then soon after delievery (within 72 hours).

You should ask your doctor more about it.

yeah they said i got to get it in my other hip 72 hrs after i give birth...i did ask her about it.but it was hard for me to understand what it meant. i kind of understand it, but im just worried that something will go wrong.