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