The First RhoGAM^® Mom

On May 29, 1968, a new mother at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ, helped make history as the initial recipient of RhoGAM, the world's first medication designed to prevent life-threatening hemolytic disease of the newborn. The medicine has since saved the lives of thousands of children in the U.S. and abroad. RhoGAM and similar medications that followed, are considered among the most significant medical breakthroughs of the 20th century.

Today, nearly four decades later, Marianne Cummins of Fair Lawn, NJ, remains grateful that she was able to receive RhoGAM.

"The fact that RhoGAM came on the market just when I needed it seemed like a miracle..."

"As an expectant mom, the thought of something bad happening to your child is unimaginable," Mrs. Cummins said. "I had given birth to two healthy daughters, but because I am Rh-negative I knew that after my third pregnancy, additional pregnancies could be risky. When I was pregnant with my third child I read an article in The New York Times about the pending approval of RhoGAM. Fortunately, my physician and the staff at Holy Name Hospital were very interested in getting RhoGAM for me."

Although RhoGAM was not government approved in time for Mrs. Cummins to receive it during her third pregnancy, the first shipment of the new product did arrive within the required 72 hours after she gave birth to third child, a son, who was born healthy. That RhoGAM injection protected her from developing antibodies that could have harmed her next child.

Hemolytic disease of the newborn occurs when a mother's blood is incompatible with the blood of her unborn baby. The Rh-positive red blood cells of the child leak into the mother's bloodstream and cause her defense system to produce antibodies that attack the red blood cells of the baby. This results in a progressive decrease in the red blood cell count (anemia) and, in several cases, heart failure. While the first child is normally safe because the antibodies don't develop until some weeks after delivery, these existing antibodies can threaten subsequent pregnancies.

"The fact that RhoGAM came on the market just when I needed it seemed like a miracle, and being able to get the injection was an immense relief," Mrs. Cummins said. "After already having been blessed with two healthy daughters and a healthy son, my husband and I now knew that our next child would not run the risk of suffering the effects of hemolytic disease of the newborn."

The discovery of RhoGAM, a product that prevents the Rh disease from developing, was the result of years of pioneering collaborative work by researchers at Columbia University in New York and the Ortho Research Foundation (now Ortho Clinical Diagnostics) in Raritan.

When it was launched, RhoGAM was heralded by medical journals and publications such as The New York Times as an obstetrical milestone. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology has hailed RhoGAM as one of the top achievements in 50 years of women's health. In the 38 years since that first injection, over 18 million doses of RhoGAM have been administered to protect over a generation of babies.

"Before RhoGAM was available, hemolytic disease of the newborn claimed the lives of roughly 10,000 babies in the U.S. every year," said Michael Waller, M.D., vice president, clinical and medical affairs, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. "Desperate for an effective treatment to overcome the disease, physicians resorted to such risky measures as administering blood transfusions by needle to babies still in the womb.

Today, RhoGAM and other immune globulins are administered as a routine part of an at-risk pregnant woman's pre and postnatal care, and thankfully, hemolytic disease of the newborn has been virtually eliminated." The significance of RhoGAM is not lost on its first recipient. "I feel privileged to have been the first woman to receive RhoGAM," Marianne Cummins said. "I know that since that day in 1968, millions of women have received this wonderful product. I appreciate it more today than I did then, when I realize the number of problems that have been prevented because of the discovery of RhoGAM."

Marianne Cummins continues her career in teaching, and has been married to her husband, Dennis, for 42 years. Together, they have four grown children and are the proud grandparents of four grandchildren with a fifth expected later this year.

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