SAEDNEWS: About 15% of women have Rh-negative blood types (meaning A negative, B negative, AB negative, or O negative). If a woman with an Rh-negative blood type experiences a miscarriage, or if she is at risk of miscarriage due to bleeding in the early weeks of pregnancy, she may face medical complications related to the Rh factor.
According to the Family Magazine section of Saednews Service, Rh incompatibility is a condition that occurs during pregnancy when the mother’s blood is Rh-negative and the baby’s blood is Rh-positive. The Rh factor is a protein found on red blood cells. If a person’s blood contains this protein, they are Rh-positive; if it does not, they are Rh-negative. The Rh factor is hereditary and passed from parents to their children. Most people are Rh-positive. The absence of this protein does not affect a person’s general health, but it can cause complications during pregnancy.
When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, several laboratory tests are performed. One of these tests determines the blood type (A, B, AB, or O) and the Rh factor.
The results of blood typing may appear in laboratory reports or blood type cards as follows:
“A Negative” (A Neg), “O Positive” (O Pos), “B Negative” (B Neg), “A Positive” (A Pos), “AB Negative” (AB Neg), and so on.
About 15% of women have Rh-negative blood types (A-, B-, AB-, or O-). If a woman with Rh-negative blood experiences a miscarriage, or is at risk of miscarriage due to early pregnancy bleeding, she may need an injection of anti-D immunoglobulin within 72 hours after the miscarriage or bleeding event.
The purpose of this injection is to prevent the mother’s immune system from producing anti-Rh antibodies. It is possible for an Rh-negative mother to carry an Rh-positive fetus.
In such cases, if a miscarriage occurs within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, there is about a 7% chance of antibody formation. If it occurs after the 13th week, the risk increases to about 20%. Women with Rh-positive blood types (A+, B+, AB+, or O+) are not at risk of this complication.
Anti-D immunoglobulin, known as RhoGAM, is administered by injection. It is a product derived from the blood of donors who have developed antibodies against the Rh factor.
Its purpose is to prevent the formation of anti-Rh antibodies in the mother’s bloodstream. This helps prevent complications in future pregnancies. RhoGAM should be administered within 72 hours after significant bleeding or miscarriage.
However, timely administration reduces the risk of antibody formation to about 1.5%, meaning it does not completely guarantee prevention.
One of the blood incompatibilities between mother and baby that may lead to complications such as anemia, jaundice, intrauterine fetal death, or the birth of a live infant with severe jaundice is Rh incompatibility. This occurs when the mother is Rh-negative and the fetus is Rh-positive.
