What is a negative Rh factor?

At the very beginning of pregnancy, one of the first tests a woman gives is a blood test. Particular attention is paid to the definition of the Rh factor. What is this for?

The main components of human blood are red blood cells. On their surface is a special antigen - Rh factor. Some people have this antigen, blood has a positive Rh factor. When it is not found in the blood, it is said that a person has a negative rhesus. People with positive rhesus are much more than with negative rhesus (more than 85 percent).

Why is it important to know the Rh factor of the blood? These data are necessary for transfusion. For example, if a person's blood group is negative, then only blood with negative rhesus of the first and second group can be transfused.

Also on whether the Rh factor of the mother and fetus coincides, the course of pregnancy largely depends. In the case when the father has a positive, and the mother has a negative rhesus, the possibility of developing Rh-conflict appears. It occurs if the baby inherits a positive rhesus of the father. Through the placenta, there is an interaction between the mother and the baby, and the antigen also enters the mother's body through the placenta. Rhesus factor is a foreign substance for a pregnant woman. To combat it, antibodies begin to be produced in the blood. If you do not take the necessary measures in time, pregnancy can end sadly.

Miscarriage or fading and death of the fetus is possible, because the antibodies of the mother begin to actively fight the new antigen. In this case, the erythrocytes in the child are destroyed. The spleen and liver of the fetus begin to increase in size due to the constant production of new and new red blood cells. Hemoglobin in the fetal blood falls, anemia appears. These factors can affect the development of hearing organs or cause anomalies in the development of the brain. In the most severe cases, a dropsy develops, which most often leads to death.

If the child was born alive, but with obvious signs of the consequences of Rh-conflict, he is given a special blood transfusion, called a replacement blood. For this, the baby is transfused with negative rhesus blood and carry out rehabilitation measures. If the child has a second blood group with a positive Rhesus, the second group of blood (Rhesus negative) is used for the transfusion. Such treatment must be done in the first day of the baby's life.

How to prevent such a development of pregnancy? It is best even before conception to prospective parents to take a blood test and determine whether or not there is a negative Rhesus. If the mom and dad of the baby have the same rhesus blood, then you should not worry.

If the father is determined to have positive Rh, and the mother is negative, then there are special preventive measures that must be taken before conception to prevent the development of Rh-conflict. Moms with negative rhesus during pregnancy constantly give blood for the presence of antibodies. It is this analysis that will help prevent the onset of the development of Rh-conflict.

The probability of complication increases from one pregnancy to another. Even after pregnancy, the same antibodies continue to exist in the mother's body. Therefore, at the beginning of the next pregnancy, when the fetus is still very small, antibodies almost immediately begin to destroy erythrocytes, penetrating the placenta. The easiest way to avoid such unpleasant consequences, use a special drug - antiresus-immunoglobulin. This vaccine removes from the blood all the remaining antibodies after pregnancy. It is necessary to vaccinate immediately after pregnancy.

The recommendations that must be observed for a woman having a negative Rh factor are very simple. It is necessary to observe the entire pregnancy among specialists, and plan the appearance of the baby in advance.