What is the rhesus conflict in pregnancy?

The absolute majority of people (about 85%) have a positive blood group. Positive blood rhesus indicates that there is a protein on the surface of red blood cells. In people with a negative blood group, this protein is absent. In itself, this fact does not pose any threat to health. But during pregnancy, there may be a rhesus-conflict if the mother has a negative blood group, and the toddler inherits the positive from the father. Rhesus-conflict during pregnancy is a certain violation, which can cause quite serious problems: from the disease of a newborn's jaundice and ending with miscarriage or the birth of a dead fetus. However, today medicines and methods of treatment are being applied, which allow to minimize these risks.

The causes of rhesus-conflict during pregnancy can be:

- the fetal blood of a positive group enters the blood of the mother, which belongs to the negative group, during childbirth. This leads to the appearance of antibodies, as well as the immunization of the maternal organism to positive blood.

- ingestion of fetal blood of a positive group into the mother's blood of a negative group during miscarriage, abortion, ectopic pregnancy, which can adversely affect subsequent pregnancies.

- there is also a small chance that antibodies may appear during some prenatal tests.

Rhesus-conflict in pregnancy has certain symptoms:

- the presence of antibodies in the blood of a future mother;

- fetal diseases that lead to anemia and disruption of organs;

- Newborn's jaundice, anemia, brain damage associated with hypoxia.

In order to minimize the risks associated with Rh-conflict, it is necessary to start preparing for pregnancy and childbirth. First you need to donate blood for analysis to find out which group it belongs to, and also the presence of Rh factor. If it is revealed that you have a negative blood group, you need to determine whether antibodies to the Rh factor are present in it. This analysis is required to be taken at twenty- eight weeks of pregnancy, since it is at this point that the synthesis of antibodies can begin.

If your blood belongs to a negative group and is not activated by the Rh factor, and there is a possibility that your child has Rh-positive blood, you need to inject an anti- rheumatic immunoglobulin with an injection about twenty-eight weeks of your pregnancy. No later than seventy-two hours after delivery, the immunoglobulin should be re-injected if its blood has been determined to be Rh positive. You should remember about these terms and, if necessary, remind the doctor about them.

In addition, it must be remembered that such an introduction of immunoglobulin only works for one pregnancy, since protection is given for 12-14 weeks. In subsequent pregnancies by a Rh-positive child, such therapy must be repeated.

Even if antibodies have not been detected, immunoglobulin is still injected, since it is necessary to prevent their appearance. If a rhesus-conflict in pregnancy was still found, it is possible that a cordocentesis may be required - a blood transfusion through the umbilical cord to exclude the risk of anemia. In addition, the doctor must decide whether you will be able to deliver the pregnancy before the due date or whether it is necessary to stimulate childbirth.

Each woman planning a pregnancy needs to know that the compatibility of Rh factors in pregnancy depends on the blood rhesus of the mother and the unborn child. Rhesus conflict pregnancy can cause quite serious consequences for the mother and child. Therefore, in order to exclude Rhesus-conflict during pregnancy or to minimize its risks, you need to undergo all necessary examinations and take the required measures in time.