Rh Incompatibility

Rh incompatibility is a condition that occurs during pregnancy if a woman has Rh-negative blood and her baby has Rh-positive blood.

When you’re pregnant, especially during delivery, blood from your baby can cross into your bloodstream. If you’re Rh-negative and your baby is Rh-positive, your body will react to the baby’s blood as a foreign substance.

Your body will create antibodies (proteins) against the baby’s Rh-positive blood. These antibodies usually don’t cause problems during a first pregnancy. This is because the baby often is born before many of the antibodies develop.

However, the antibodies stay in your body once they have formed. Thus, Rh incompatibility is more likely to cause problems in second or later pregnancies (if the baby is Rh-positive).

The Rh antibodies can cross the placenta and attack the baby’s red blood cells. This can lead to hemolytic anemia in the baby.

Hemolytic anemia is a condition in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them. Red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of the body. Without enough red blood cells, your baby won’t get enough oxygen. This can lead to serious problems. Severe hemolytic anemia may even be fatal to the child.

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RH Negative and Pregnancy as the Important Facts | PRE PREGNANCY PLANNING | 20 September 2011, 03:04
[...] RH Negative and Pregnancy as the Important Facts By MandaChio RH negative and pregnancy are two th…. The red cells consist of hemoglobin playing important role in our body as it brings oxygen from the lungs to cells and tissues that need it. Anemia is a condition where a mother during pregnancy has a deficiency of hemoglobin due because of low iron in the formation of hemoglobin due to the drawing of the mineral on the prospective mother’s supply. [...]