New test could help 40 000 pregnant rhesus D negative women avoid treatment, says NICE

A new test that identifies which pregnant women who are rhesus D negative need to be treated could save the NHS £500 000 (€600 000; $666 000) a year.

Draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)1 recommends that only those women who are rhesus D negative and carrying a rhesus D positive baby should be treated with anti-D immunoglobulin. If the proposal is adopted, treatment could be avoided in 40 000 women, NICE has said.

Currently, all women who are rhesus …