What is the rhesus conflict in pregnancy?

The absolute majority of people (about 85%)has a positive blood group. A positive Rhesus blood testifies that there is a protein on the surface of red blood cells. In people with a negative blood group, this protein is absent. This fact alone does not pose any threat to health. But in pregnancy, there may be a rhesus-conflict if the mother has a negative blood group, and the toddler inherits a positive blood. Rhesus-conflict during pregnancy is a certain violation, which can cause quite serious problems: from a 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 applied, which allow to minimize these risks.

The causes of rhesus-conflict during pregnancy can be:

- ingestion of fetal blood of a positive group inthe 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 mother's body 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 during pregnancy has certain symptoms:

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

- fetal diseases that lead to anemia and organ failure;

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

In order to minimize the risks associated withRhesus-conflict, it is necessary to begin to prepare in advance 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 negativegroup 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 them about the doctor.

In addition, it must be remembered that suchThe 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 no antibodies were detected, it is stillImmunoglobulin injections are performed because 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,it is necessary 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, it is necessary to pass all necessary examinations and take the required measures in time.