I had no knowledge of how important blood type can be during a pregnancy until doing some research on some of the complications that can come with the parents having different blood types. Everyone has different antigens that sit on the top of their red blood cells, some have A antigens, B antigens, both A and B antigens, or none, which makes them an O blood type. To decifer whether or not you are a positive of a negative blood type, there is the RH factor. If you have the RH antigent on your red blood cells, then you are a positive blood type, and if you don’t then you are negative. So, if you have A and B antigens, and the no RH antigens, you are an AB Negative blood type. If a mother is RH negative, then she has antigens in her body that may fight off and destroy and positive antigens in her system. Meaning, if the fetus is RH positive, her body may attach the fetus and enter into the placenta and cause complications, or even miscarriage. So, if a mother is RH negative, and there is a chance that her baby may be RH positive, such as the father is an RH positive, she should receive a shot to help deal with the antibodies fighting the babies positive antigens. If the mother is positive, there is no worry for this. If both parents are negative, there is also no need to worry. If there is a chance the baby may be positive, then the mother should receive the Rh immunoglobulin. During the first pregnancy, the mother usually doesn’t produce enough antibodies to fight off the Rh positive fetus, but if the second child is Rh positive her body will produce the antibodies much quicker and should be monitored by a high risk obstetrical specialist.
Courtesy of Ares Download
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