Did you know that vaccine hesitancy is happening more often in pregnancy than ever before? There is a trend of women refusing RhoGAM shots, an essential preventive measure to protect the health and safety of moms and their babies from alloimmunization (RhoGAM is essential for preventing Rh sensitization in Rh-negative women). The result: Skipping RhoGAM can lead to unnatural pregnancies with serious medical interventions, putting babies at risk of needing blood transfusions and even dying. In this episode of the YMyHealth podcast, Co-Host Melissa Schenkman talks with Katie Shanahan, MSN, NP, who is the Director of Development for Allo Hope Foundation, an organization providing valuable education and awareness of alloimmunization, which RhoGAM acts to prevent. 

Katie, a mom who had the painful experience of alloimmunization during her first pregnancy with her son, discusses the critical role of preventive care in pregnancy, focusing on the RhoGAM shot and its importance. Melissa and Katie explore the implications of vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women, the necessity of informed decision-making using evidence-based information, and the historical context of RhoGAM's impact on maternal and fetal health. To note, RhoGAM has reduced immunization rates from 20% to 1% due to its effectiveness. The conversation emphasizes the need for reliable information and the responsibility of women to understand the consequences of their healthcare choices and the importance of having trusted information sources to base their decisions.

Links:
Are you a millennial interested in learning more about healthcare issues specifically related to your generation? Start here: https://www.ymyhealth.com/ and follow us on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/ymyhealth_/

Learn about this episode's guest, Katie Shanahan, MSN, NP, Director of Development for Allo Hope Foundation: https://allohopefoundation.org/team/katie-shanahan/ and Allo Hope Foundation

Check out the website Katie talks about in our episode that tells you everything you need to know about how Rh Immune Globulin can protect pregnant mothers in this dedicated site from Allo Hope: https://allohopefoundation.org/elementor-1673/

Have a question about today's episode? Email us at ymyhealthpodcast@gmail.com. We will be answering all your podcast episode questions in our upcoming Q&A episode on Monday, April 7.

Learn about YMyHealth's Founder, Melissa Schenkman here: https://www.ymyhealth.com/team/melissa-schenkman

Thanks again to our sponsor Dr. Sarah Diekman, Director of Diekman Dysautonomia! If you’d like to learn more about our sponsor and her practice that provides care to patients with POTS and Long COVID, go to https://dysautonomiaexpert.com