So, you have plans for pregnancy. "And here the rhesus-conflict? " - you ask. Women, as a rule, learn about it during pregnancy. In the women's consultation, they make an accurate blood test, find out the group and Rh-accessory beforehand. This study is necessary to exclude or prevent the possibility of developing a pathological process, referred to in the medical literature as Rh-conflict.
85% of people in red blood cells-erythrocytes contain a protein antigen, it is called the Rh factor. In these 85% Rh, respectively, is positive. The remaining 15% of the protein in the red blood cells is missing and, determining their blood group, the laboratory assistant will put the rhesus with a minus.
The known Rhesus-conflict develops at collision of "plus" and "minus" in the closed system of a human body. For example, when a person with "positive blood" poured a negative. Or when a woman with a minus sign carries a fetus, in the blood of which there is a Rh factor. It's only in physics, plus and minus attract, in gynecology it's different. The situation develops unfavorably.
Once in the blood of such pregnant get red blood cells of the fetus containing the Rh factor, its immune cells perceive them as attacking foreign bodies. The body sends an alarm and begins to actively develop protective antibodies. Simply put, the mother's immune system destroys the baby's red blood cells, which contain an unidentified positive rhesus. The hematopoietic organs of the fetus are activated and in order to replenish the number of red blood cells destroyed, they begin to produce them with redoubled force. This entails an increase in the level of the substance called bilirubin. With its excess, the future child's brain can suffer. The liver and spleen, working in the mode of increased load, in the end, can not cope ... Fetus lacks oxygen. In particularly difficult cases, it may not survive.
And after birth, these children develop hemolytic disease of the newborn. The diagnosis is disappointing, but it can be avoided if preventive measures are taken in time. To begin it is necessary with constant supervision at the expert.
Usually, becoming registered in the women's consultation, every pregnant woman gets two directions in the treatment room to determine blood type and Rh factor. Two, because the second analysis must pass the father of the child. This will help to predict possible variants of pregnancy. If both parents have the same rhesus (no matter whether positive or negative), there will be no problem.
In a situation where the husband has a negative rhesus and his wife is positive, there is a high probability (75%) of developing Rh-conflict. It occurs when the baby inherits his father's Rh factor.
However, it is not necessary to perceive various rhesus parents as a verdict with a verdict of "childlessness." Provided that the current pregnancy is the first (there were no abortions and miscarriages), the chances of such a pair are not bad. Because during the first pregnancy, antibodies are produced in small amounts and do not affect the fetus.
Provoke the production of antibodies can the blood of a future child who has fallen into the mother's circulatory system through a damaged or infected placenta. A similar process occurs during childbirth, miscarriage and abortion.
Therefore, in the blood of a woman who already had a rhesus-conflict pregnancy, there are so-called "memory cells". During the next pregnancy, they react to the red blood cells of the Rh-positive fetus with increased production of harmful antibodies.
That is why future mothers who fall into the risk group must be under the constant supervision of a gynecologist. During the entire pregnancy, you will have to take a special analysis that determines the presence of antibodies in the blood. Up to 32 weeks - once a month, in a later period - weekly. If the result is negative and the pregnancy develops normally, at 28 weeks the woman is administered an antiresusive immunoglobulin. This is a necessary preventive measure, the drug recognizes and binds the mother's "positively charged" erythrocytes to the fetus. Makes them invisible to her immune system.
A positive test result with a high antibody titer is an indication for immediate hospitalization of a pregnant woman.
In the perinatal center, specialists will constantly monitor the level of antibodies. And ultrasound in dynamics will allow to note the slightest changes in the internal organs of the child.
Usually under such careful control the pregnancy can be brought to the desired date. The next stage is a cesarean section.
On the third day after the birth of a child with a positive Rh factor, the woman is shown the administration of an antiresusive immunoglobulin. He will play a role in subsequent pregnancies, preventing the development of Rh-conflict.
If the first pregnancy was relatively seamless, and after the birth you were given the right drug, most likely the birth of the second child will not cause serious difficulties. The probability of developing Rh-conflict is only 10-15%.
In any case, there is no contraindication for pregnancy. Simply, the situation will require more careful monitoring of specialists and a more responsible approach to the implementation of their recommendations. As you can see, plans and Rhesus conflict are not always compatible.