Rhesus-conflict

People differ from each other not only with eyeamniocentesis and surgical operation during
and skin color, or height, but also with a bloodabdominal pregnancy.
group, and also with its Rhesus factor. For theHappy-end
time being, it does not matter which blood runs in"And in general, - a doctor finished his story, now
our veins.you should know only one thing: a prognosis is
"At school I tried to avoid medical examinations,good. So, pass vein blood tests regularly and don't
hiding in toilets and checkrooms. At home,think of anything else". And I went to pass a vein
resisting a doctor's visit, I resorted to variousblood test. Once, again, and again... And soon I
tricks: pressed my forehead to a frozen windowdiscovered that this is not so disgusting. When the
to cool it and hide high temperature, coughedprocedure became ordinary, it stopped seeming
under the blanket, shook off the thermometer.to be some terrible trial. Easy and quickly. There's
And when I grew up, I could not find time forone bad aspect - you need to pass the test in
sicknesses or preventive medical examinations, asthe morning and surely on an empty stomach. But
I always had more important and absolutelythe main thing was that every following test
urgent matters. As a result, I knew about Rhesusshowed the same result - there was no any
factor existence and that I have gotthreatening quantity of antibodies in my blood,
Rhesus-negative only when I was 27 y.o., i.e.and, hence, no any Rhesus-conflict.
when I decided to become a mother".With such results, I came to a long-awaited day
Such different bloodof childbirth. And gave birth to an absolutely
Rhesus factor is an antigen (or albumen), which ishealthy daughter. Her birth, naturally, displaced all
situated on erythrocytes' surface (red corpuscles).other thoughts from my head. And, unfortunately,
It was discovered just 35 years ago. And at theI completely forgot to ask doctors to inject
same time it was discovered that 85% of menanti-Rhesus immunoglobulin in me during 72 hours
and women have this Rhesus factor, and, hence,after childbirth. Well, nobody offered me this too.
are Rhesus-positive. And the rest 15%,But then, frankly speaking, I did not think about
accordingly, have no Rhesus factor, and are calledany other pregnancies. And now? You know, I
Rhesus-negative.have not told anybody about it yet... But, to my
In everyday life, neither presence, nor lack ofopinion, two children in a family are much better,
Rhesus factor plays any special role. It becomesthan an only child. And, perhaps, I'm ready to
important only under such extreme conditions,repeat everything. We will pass all tests, consult
like, for example, blood transfusion. Or pregnancy.doctors, administrate this Anti-Rhesus. Of course,
Why pregnancy? Because if a future mother hasI'm afraid a little. But, as a doctor said, the
Rhesus-negative, and father has Rhesus-positive,prognosis is good!
a child can inherit both mother's and father's ones,Queen Anna
it's 50x50. If he inherits a mother'sPeople differ from each other not only with eye
Rhesus-negative, then everything is ok, no danger.and skin color, or height, but also with a blood
And if he inherits a father's Rhesus-positive? Thengroup, and also with its Rhesus factor. For the
a threat of Rhesus-conflict appears. What's this?time being, it does not matter which blood runs in
This is an incompatibility of blood between motherour veins, as it "works" only on our organism and
and her fetus. Rhesus factor of fetus overcomessuits it completely. However, sometimes such
a placenta barrier and comes to a mother's blood.situation may happen, when one person's blood
And her organism, "not recognizing" fetus andcontacts with other one's blood - this happens
accepting it as something alien, begins producingwhile blood transfusion or pregnancy. And then
protective antibodies.problems begin...
These antibodies come through placenta and beginThere're 4 main blood groups: the first, it's also
"battling" with a future baby's erythrocytes,called zero (0); second (A); third (B) and fourth
annihilating them. What this may lead to? To a(AB). If one gives somebody a transfusion of
miscarriage, if a mother's organism tears awayblood of some other group, serious complications
fetus. To production of more bilirubin, a substancemay occur, right up to conditions, threatening to
that colors skin in yellow and leads to new-bornone's life.
babies' jaundice. Bilirubin can also damage a futureBesides, blood is divided into 2 types, according to
baby's brain, cause hearing-aid and speech defectsRhesus factor - albumen, situated in erythrocytes
of development. Moreover, as erythrocytes in(red corpuscles). Rhesus factor can be positive or
fetus blood will be constantly annihilated, his livernegative. If a woman with Rhesus-negative blood
and spleen will quicken red corpuscles production,is bearing a child, who inherited his father's
increasing in sizes sharply. However, they willRhesus-positive, then during a contact of mother's
definitely lose this race, and as a result, a futureand fetus's blood, a pregnant woman's organism
baby can have anemia, caused by threateninglytreats fetus as some alien thing and produces
low content of erythrocytes and haemoglobin. Inantibodies that contribute to its seizure. This can
addition, Rhesus-conflict can cause in-born dropsymake difficulties for normal height and
(edema) of fetus and even lead to his death.development of a future baby, influence bad his
How to struggle?health. In cases of serious complications, a
There're preventive measures and methods ofprenatal death of fetus takes place, miscarriages
treatment of Rhesus-conflict. The first of them ison different periods of pregnancy.
to learn your blood group and Rhesus factor asDuring the first pregnancy, a conflict, caused by
much earlier, and also a future father's bloodan incompatibility between mother's and fetus's
group and Rhesus factor. Sometimes,blood according to a blood group and Rhesus
Rhesus-conflict starts because of an incompatibilityfactor, seldom develops, as women's antibodies
between mother's and baby's blood groups, forare being produced in not enough quantity. With
example, if a mother has 0 blood group, and aevery following pregnancy, a chance of
future baby has A or B blood group. Fortunately,complications increases in several times.
such incompatibility is less dangerous and does notOften, antibodies are produced in organism of
betoken serious complications. If both parentswomen who haven't given birth yet, as a result
have the same Rhesus, there're no reasons forof previous blood transfusions, without taking into
anxiety. If a mother has Rhesus-negative, and aaccount Rhesus-compatibility, miscarriages or
father has Rhesus-positive, a mother will have toabortions, abdominal pregnancy. Various
pass such a procedure, as vein blood testcomplications during pregnancy (toxicosis, high
regularly. This way doctors will be able to controlblood pressure, infectious and other diseases)
the quantity of antibodies in your blood constantlyincrease weight of condition and a chance of
and notice a beginning of Rhesus-conflict. Till 32conflict development.
week of pregnancy, you need to pass vein bloodA conflict, caused by incompatibility according to a
test once a month, since 32 till 35 - twice ablood group, is met more often, but under AB0
month, and then every week till the day ofconflict, serious problems appear less often, than
childbirth.under incompatibility according to Rhesus factor.
If Rhesus-conflict still begins, specialists will be ableOne can predict a probability of a pathologic
to resort to different measures to save a baby.process, knowing Rhesus factor and blood groups
In some cases, they stimulate premature birthof both parents.
and execute exchange blood transfusion to aWomen, who have a risk of a conflict
baby - doctors inject a blood of the same group,development, should be under careful
but with Rhesus-negative in him. This operations isobstetrician-gynecologist's observation during
held during 36 hours after childbirth.pregnancy. It's necessary to determine a level of
There's also a possibility to reduce a risk ofRhesus-antibodies in blood during the whole period
Rhesus-conflict development during next childbirth.(once a month till 32 weeks of pregnancy, twice
For example, with the help of administration of aa month since 32 to 35 weeks, and then every
special vaccine - anti-Rhesus immunoglobulin atweek). Height of antibodies' titre helps to
once (during 72 hours) after first childbirth ordetermine a fetus state, forecast a weight of a
abortive pregnancy. The principle of action of thisnew-born baby's condition, and prevent the
medicine is based on the fact that it "connects"development of complications when it's necessary.
aggressive bodies in mother's blood and bringsWomen with Rhesus-negative can avoid the
them out of her organism. After this, they cannotconflict during the second pregnancy with the help
threaten a future baby's health and life anymore.of administration of anti-Rhesus immunoglobulin
If Rhesus-antibodies were not injected asright after the first childbirth, abortion, transfusion
preventive measures for some reason, suchof an incompatible blood. As a rule, this is a routine
"vaccination" can be done during pregnancy.practice of maternity hospitals, but it's better to
Administration of anti-Rhesus immunoglobulin canask such question before you choose a hospital to
be done also after fetus bladder puncture,give birth in.