What is the Rh factor? It is a protein that is on the surface of blood cells (erythrocytes). Those people who have it present are carriers of a positive Rh factor. Those people who do not have this protein in their blood are Rh-negative. It was revealed that the negative Rh factor in about 20% of people.
In the case when there is incompatibility of the mother and child in the Rh factor, the formation of antiresus bodies may well begin in the body of a pregnant woman.
And there is no danger of incompatibility in the Rh factor of mother and child, if both mother and father are Rh-negative or if the mother has a positive Rh factor. Also, if the child inherits the genes of both parents simultaneously, then there is no Rhesus-conflict.
How is the incompatibility of the mother and child in the Rh factor?
In the body of a pregnant woman, as mentioned earlier, there is a Rhesus-conflict, as a result of which, in the maternal body, Rh antibodies are produced - peculiar protein compounds. In this case, the doctors put a woman diagnosed with rhesus-sensitization.
Rhesus antibodies can also appear in the body of a woman after an abortion, after an ectopic pregnancy, after the first birth.
However, in most cases, the first pregnancy in a Rh-negative woman proceeds without complications. If the first pregnancy is interrupted, the risk of developing Rh-sensitization during subsequent pregnancies increases. Moreover, this diagnosis is not harmful to a woman's body in any way. But, getting into the fetal bloodstream, Rhesus antibodies can destroy its erythrocytes, resulting in anemia of the newborn, disruption of the development of vital systems and organs of the child. Defeat of the fetus with Rh antibodies is called hemolytic disease. The most severe consequences of the incompatibility of the mother and child with the rezu factor are the birth of a child incapable of life. In more mild cases, the baby is born with jaundice or anemia.
Children born with signs of hemolytic disease need immediate medical attention - blood transfusion.
To avoid the severe consequences of incompatibility of the mother and child in the Rh factor, you should first contact a women's consultation, where you will be directed to all the necessary tests. If the results of the tests prove that you have a negative Rh factor, you will be placed on a special account and will regularly check for the presence of Rh antibodies in the blood. In case if antibodies are found, you will be assigned to a special obstetric center.
Now the hemolytic disease of the fetus is detected already in the early stages. The child is helped to survive in the mother's womb using intrauterine blood transfusion. Using ultrasound through the anterior abdominal wall of the woman, the fetus is poured through the vein into the umbilical cord to 50ml of donor red blood cells, so that the baby develops normally until the end of pregnancy.
When a Rh-negative woman has a child with a positive Rh factor, antiresus gamma globulin is injected intravenously in the first few hours. With the help of this drug in the mother's body, the production of antibodies stops.