Every person from the moment of conception until the end of life has one of four blood groups: I (0), II (A), III (B) or IV (AB). In addition, based on the presence of a certain protein in blood cells, a conclusion is drawn about its Rh factor, which can be positive (Rh+) or negative (Rh-). IN everyday life these differences are not particularly significant. If a man and woman are thinking about having a child, the question of whether their blood types or Rh factors are compatible becomes one of the main ones for them.
From a genetic point of view, spouses whose blood types and Rh factors match are considered well compatible. In fact, there are no people who are incompatible by blood type. But different Rh factors between a husband and wife, especially if he has Rh+ and she has Rh-, can make them worry. It is believed that such a difference can cause problems with conception, gestation and fetal health.
Despite popular belief, couples with different Rhesus usually do not have problems conceiving their first child. But upon conception, the child receives the Rh factor of one of the parents. If they are different for him and his mother, a Rh conflict may arise: the mother’s body will begin to produce antibodies that impede the normal growth and development of the fetus, harming the health of the unborn baby. Therefore, all pregnant women are required to donate blood to determine the group and Rh factor, which doctors compare with the indicators of the child’s father. In addition, during pregnancy the absence or presence of antibodies in the blood of the expectant mother is strictly controlled.
In most cases, Rh conflict does not arise, the mother safely carries and gives birth to her baby. But during childbirth (as well as abortion), if the baby’s blood with a different Rh factor enters the mother’s blood, the process of antibody production may accelerate. Because of this, doctors strongly advise couples with different Rhesus conditions not to terminate their first pregnancy.
In rare cases, Rh conflict does arise. In this case, the amount of antibodies in the blood of pregnant women is strictly controlled in order to prevent them from increasing to dangerous levels. After all, antibodies can seriously harm the fetus and even cause miscarriage. If the amount of antibodies is critical, it helps to save the situation anti-Rhesus immunoglobulin, which inhibits the production of antibodies, which is introduced into the mother’s body. If necessary, a woman receives it after childbirth.
That is, women who are at risk of Rh conflict, while expecting a child, should be under the careful supervision of a gynecologist and undergo all the necessary tests on time. After all, if you know about a possible conflict regarding the Rh factor in advance, its consequences can be successfully prevented.
Every woman who dreams of motherhood wants to give birth healthy child. The incompatibility of a husband and wife with respect to the Rh factor does not mean that during pregnancy a Rh conflict will necessarily arise and the child will suffer in some way. So the opportunity to safely give birth to a healthy baby in such a case exists.
To avoid problems when conceiving a child and during pregnancy and bearing a child, it is very desirable that the partners have the same blood type, but the same Rh factor value.
Reference: The Rh factor of the blood is a special protein found on the surface of erythrocytes (red blood cells). If such cells enter the blood of a person who does not have them, he forms antibodies on them that destroy foreign cells. With short-term contact of different blood (the first pregnancy of an Rh-negative woman with an Rh-positive fetus, mixing of blood occurs during childbirth), antibodies are formed. but they do not have time to act on the fetal cells, because childbirth has already occurred. Antibodies continue to exist in the blood for several years, and during the second pregnancy with an Rh-positive fetus, they are already ready, and when the fetal cells enter the mother’s bloodstream, they begin to destroy them. Normally, during the second and subsequent pregnancies, mixing of blood occurs only during childbirth, and this is not so scary. But, unfortunately, in modern conditions, the permeability of the placenta is often increased during pregnancy, and the baby’s blood can reach the mother during pregnancy, antibodies have time to form (2 weeks) and act during pregnancy. Therefore, Rh conflict can develop in the first pregnancy. Moreover, it does not matter how the pregnancy ended - childbirth or termination, what is important is the duration and the presence of antibodies. Blood cells begin to form at week 7, so antibodies may not appear earlier than this period - from this moment on, their presence in the blood must be checked every month.
Before planning a pregnancy, a Rh-negative woman needs to check the level of antibodies to the Rh factor in her blood. If they are not present, pregnancy is planned, starting from 7 weeks, the level of antibodies is determined every month; if they are not present until the end of pregnancy, within 72 hours after the end (any and at any period), it is necessary to administer an injection of anti-Rhesus D-immunoglobulin. It prevents the formation of antibodies after blood mixing during pregnancy. This drug must be purchased during pregnancy and kept in the refrigerator, because it is not known when the pregnancy will end, and neither maternity hospitals nor hospitals may offer an injection of immunoglobulin, and you yourself must remind the doctors about this and bring your drug.
If there are antibodies, you can remove them from the blood using plasmapheresis, you can block their synthesis with hormonal drugs, you can wait. They are gradually eliminated from the blood, best prevention Rhesus conflict - a large interval between pregnancies.
If a woman is Rh positive, she cannot have any Rh conflict, because she herself has Rh and antibodies cannot be formed to it.
I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that blood groups are encoded by special proteins on the surface of blood cells. Group 1 (0) means the absence of these proteins - “negative” blood. 2 - group A, protein A. 3 - group B. 4 - group AB. If a woman does not have some protein that her husband has, the child may also have the father’s protein, and a woman who is negative for this protein can form antibodies and act as if they had a Rh conflict. This situation develops much less frequently than Rh conflict, but we also need to remember about it and determine the level of antibodies to blood groups, also starting from 7 weeks of pregnancy.
There can be a conflict if a woman has blood type 1 (0), and a man has blood group 2 (antibodies to protein A), 3 (to protein B), fourth (to both antitags); if a woman has 2 (A), and a man has 3 (B) or 4 (AB) - antibodies to antigen B; if a woman has group 3 (B), and a man has group 2 (A) or 4 (AB) - antibodies to antigen A.
So there is no incompatibility in the Rh factor and blood groups as such, and different Rhesus factors do not mean the inability to get pregnant and bear a healthy child.
Before conceiving a child - and especially before a woman’s first pregnancy - it is absolutely necessary to undergo tests to determine the Rh factor and blood type of the future parents.
If suddenly the Rh factor of the blood of a woman and a man does not match, then before conception it is necessary to carry out therapy so that after conceiving a child, the mother’s body does not reject the fetus.
By the way, in 99% of cases, the child inherits both the blood type and the Rh factor of the mother’s blood, and problems during conceiving a child and pregnancy, and then after the birth of the child, arise precisely when the Rh factor of the mother’s blood differs from the Rh factor of the father’s blood .
Regarding the compatibility of spouses and conceiving a child, we can also add that it is traditionally believed that the healthier child is born whose father’s blood type is higher than that of the mother. In general, the higher the father’s blood type, the better.
Every woman from a young age should know her blood type and Rh factor. Blood group and rhesus- one of the mandatory tests that are carried out in the antenatal clinic when a woman registers. Blood Rh factor can significantly affect the course of the next nine months, as well as blood type. Experts call a condition that occurs as a result of incompatibility between the blood of mother and fetus for certain antigens hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn.
Blood type inheritance
Division system blood groups, which is generally accepted at present, is called AB0 system. According to this system, human red blood cells (erythrocytes) are characterized by the presence of special substances in them - antigens. The interaction of antigens affects, in particular, the compatibility of different blood groups in donors and recipients.
There are two categories of antigens - A and B. Human blood can contain both types of antigens, one of them or none, i.e. 0. Depending on this, they allocate four blood types:
- I (0) - both antigens are absent;
- II (A) - antigen A is present;
- III (B) - antigen B is present;
- IV (AB) - both antigens are present.
Blood type is inherited genetically. A person's blood type is the key to everything immune system body. Blood type is the main fundamental factor of all biochemical processes occurring in our body. It controls the influence of viruses, bacteria, infections, chemicals, stress and all others external factors and conditions that a person will have to face in life.
The number of variants of blood groups in children, depending on the blood groups of the parents, can be 36.
| Father's blood type | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I(00) | II(A0) | II(AA) | III(B0) | III(BB) | IV(AB) | |
| Mother's blood type | ||||||
| I(00) | I(00) — 100% | I(00) — 50% II(A0) - 50% |
II(A0) - 100% | I(00) — 50% III(B0) - 50% |
III(B0) — 100% | II(A0) - 50% III(B0) - 50% |
| II(A0) | I(00) — 50% II(A0) - 50% |
I(00) — 25% II(A0) - 50% II(AA) - 25% |
II(AA) - 50% II(A0) - 50% |
I(00) — 25% II(A0) - 25% III(B0) - 25% IV(AB) - 25% |
IV(AB) - 50% III(B0) - 50% |
II(AA) - 25% II(A0) - 25% III(B0) - 25% IV(AB) - 25% |
| II(AA) | II(A0) - 100% | II(AA) - 50% II(A0) - 50% |
II(AA) - 100% | IV(AB) - 50% II(A0) - 50% |
IV(AB) - 100% | II(AA) - 50% IV(AB) - 50% |
| III(B0) | I(00) — 50% III(B0) - 50% |
I(00) — 25% II(A0) - 25% III(B0) - 25% IV(AB) - 25% |
IV(AB) - 50% II(A0) - 50% |
I(00) — 25% III(B0) - 50% III(BB) - 25% |
III(BB) - 50% III(B0) - 50% |
II(A0) - 25% III(B0) - 25% III(BB) - 25% IV(AB) - 25% |
| III(BB) | III(B0) — 100% | IV(AB) - 50% III(B0) - 50% |
IV(AB) - 100% | III(BB) - 50% III(B0) - 50% |
III(BB) - 100% | IV(AB) - 50% III(BB) - 50% |
| IV(AB) | II(A0) - 50% III(B0) - 50% |
II(AA) - 25% II(A0) - 25% III(B0) - 25% IV(AB) - 25% |
II(AA) - 50% IV(AB) - 50% |
II(A0) - 25% III(B0) - 25% III(BB) - 25% IV(AB) - 25% |
IV(AB) - 50% III(BB) - 50% |
II(AA) - 25% III(BB) - 25% IV(AB) - 50% |
Based on the table above, it is possible to establish paternity (or deny paternity) based on the child’s blood type.
Rh factor is a blood protein that is found on the surface of blood cells that carry oxygen to tissues (red blood cells). If this protein is present, then a person Rh positive-factor , if it is not there, then Rh factor negative. 85% of the world's population have positive Rh factors.
Inheritance of the Rh factor is encoded by three pairs of genes and occurs independently of the inheritance of blood type. The Rh factor is usually denoted in Latin letters Rh with a plus or minus sign, respectively. There are 9 options for inheriting the Rh factor.
- If both parents are Rh positive, the child will be Rh positive.
- If both parents are negative. - the child inherits more often - negative.
- If one of the parents is Rh positive and the other is Rh negative, then the probability of the baby being Rh is determined to be 50% to 50%.
- There is a possibility of rhesus inheritance after several generations (the case when the father and mother have positive rhesus, and the born child has - Rh negative).
Therefore, when planning a family, compatibility testing of parents is mandatory - it is necessary to determine blood groups and Rh blood. Women with Rh-negative blood are a risk group.
Rh factor and pregnancy
Most often, hemolytic disease of the newborn develops due to Rhesus conflict. At the same time in a pregnant woman, Rh- negative blood , A the fetus is Rh positive. During pregnancy, the red blood cells of the Rh-positive fetus enter the blood of the Rh-negative mother and cause the formation of antibodies to the Rh factor in her blood (harmless to her, but causing the destruction of the fetal red blood cells). The breakdown of red blood cells leads to damage to the liver, kidneys, brain of the fetus, development hemolytic disease fetus and newborn. In most cases, the disease develops quickly after birth, which is facilitated by the entry of a large number of antibodies into the baby’s blood when the integrity of the placental vessels is disrupted.
Normally, the blood flow of the mother and fetus mixes only during childbirth, but in practice, there is often an increase in the permeability of the placental vessels (infections, minor injuries, hemorrhages), various pathologies of pregnancy, leading to the entry of fetal red blood cells into the mother’s blood. In case of Rhesus conflict, the mother’s body “considers” the baby’s blood to be a foreign substance and begins to produce antibodies, attacking the baby’s blood cells. The fetus tries to defend itself: the spleen and liver begin to work hard, and they increase significantly in size. In the end, they too fail. Severe oxygen starvation sets in, and a new round of severe disorders begins in the child’s body. In the most severe cases, this ends in intrauterine death at various stages of pregnancy; in milder cases, the Rh conflict manifests itself after birth as jaundice or anemia of the newborn. Most often, hemolytic disease quickly develops in a child after birth, which is facilitated by the entry of a large number of antibodies into the baby’s blood when the integrity of the placental vessels is disrupted.
Treatment of hemolytic disease is complex and complex; sometimes the baby requires a replacement blood transfusion. Doctors inject him Rh negative blood his groups and carry out resuscitation measures. This operation must be performed within 36 hours after the baby is born.
The threat of Rh conflict during pregnancy is caused by a combination of two factors:
- the woman is Rh negative, and the father of the unborn child is Rh positive;
- the fetus inherits from the father the gene responsible for positive Rh, i.e. unborn child Rh positive.
In this case, the formation of anti-Rh antibodies may begin in the body of the expectant mother. If both parents are Rh-negative, there is no threat of conflict (the child will definitely be Rh-negative). Also, there is no threat of conflict if the woman is Rh positive (the Rh affiliation of the father and child does not matter). In addition, in the case of an Rh negative mother and an Rh positive father, there is a small probability that the fetus will inherit genes responsible for Rh negative from both parents, and there will be no Rh conflict.
Often, Rh conflict does not appear during the first pregnancy, although the parents have different Rh factors. Whatever the mother’s blood type (Rh negative) during pregnancy, during the second birth the likelihood of conflict is very high, since her blood most likely already has antibodies.
To prevent the formation of anti-Rhesus antibodies during childbirth, the woman is given anti-Rhesus immunoglobulin within 72 hours of any pregnancy.
Group incompatibility
During pregnancy, not only Rh conflict can occur, but also blood type conflict. If the fetus has an antigen that the mother does not have, she can produce antibodies against it: antiA, antiB. A conflict may arise if:
- the mother has blood type I or III - the fetus has II;
- mother I or II - fetus III;
- mother any other - fetus IV.
More often, immune incompatibility manifests itself when the mother has blood group I, and the fetus has blood group II, and less often, blood group III.
It is necessary to check for the presence of group antibodies in all couples where the man and woman have different blood groups, with the exception of cases where the man has the first group.
Remember: if you and your baby’s blood group and Rh are different, this is not an indication that there will definitely be problems. Blood group and Rh are simply the presence or absence of specific proteins in the blood. The body's reaction can now be successfully controlled with the help of medications. Your attentiveness to your body, as well as an experienced doctor, will help you bear a healthy baby.
