Rhesus is a protein found on the surface of red blood cells. It is present in about 85% of the world's inhabitants.
How does Rhesus conflict arise?
The main reason for the development of Rhesus conflict is the inconsistency of these characteristics of the blood of the mother and the future child, i.e. if the baby has a positive blood, and his mother has a negative blood. At the same time, there is no rhesus-conflict in blood groups.
The mechanism of development of this phenomenon is as follows. At the moment when the blood of the future mother passes through the vessels of the placenta to the red blood cells of the fetus with the Rh proteins, they are perceived as alien. As a result, the immune system of the body is activated by the pregnant woman, which is accompanied by the production of antibodies, which are designed to destroy fetal blood cells that are not appropriate for the mother's cells.
Due to the fact that the baby's red blood cells are periodically destroyed, his spleen and liver, as a result of increasing the production of blood cells, increase in size.
As a result, the baby's body can not cope, there is a strong oxygen starvation, which can lead to death.
When is rhesus-conflict possible?
In order to avoid this situation, the girl must know the Rh factor of her lover even before marriage. Violation occurs when the wife has no rhesus protein, and her husband - is present. In such a situation, in 75% of cases there is a discrepancy.
Therefore, to prevent the development of Rh-conflict, a table was drawn up of the probability of occurrence of violations during pregnancy.
What are the signs of this violation?
Clinical signs of the development of Rh-conflict during pregnancy are absent, i.e. a pregnant woman is unable to determine the violation herself. Do this with the help of ultrasound.
So, the symptoms of this violation can be:
- development of puffiness, which is accompanied by the accumulation of fluid in the body cavities;
- an increase in the size of the fetal body;
- the "Buddha" posture (the legs of the baby are set aside, due to a strong increase in the abdomen);
- an increase in the spleen and liver of the fetus;
- edema and thickening of the placenta.
Is pregnancy possible in a Rh-incompatible couple?
Do not despair if the girl has Rh-negative blood, and her elect is positive. As a rule, the first pregnancy is normal. This is explained by the fact that the woman's body first meets with Rh-positive blood, and antibodies are not produced in this case. In those cases, when there were a lot of blood cells with Rhesus protein in the mother's body, so-called memory cells remain in her blood, leading to a conflict in the second pregnancy.
How is the prevention of Rh-conflict?
Particular attention is paid to the prevention of Rh-conflict when pregnancy already occurs.
So, first of all check, whether this protein is present in the mother's blood. If he is not, then the father is subjected to a similar procedure. If it contains Rh, the blood of the expectant mother is carefully examined for the presence of antibodies. At the same time, the level of these formations in the pregnant woman's blood is constantly monitored. So, before 32 weeks the analysis is carried out once a month, and in the period of 32-35 weeks - 2 times in 30 days.
After the baby is born, blood is taken from him, in which the rhesus is determined. If it is positive, then within 3 days the mother is given serum - immunoglobulin, which prevents the occurrence of conflict during the next pregnancy.
What are the consequences of Rh-conflict?
In time, the detected Rh-conflict, as a rule, has no negative consequences. However, this does not always happen. If miscarriage occurs, then sensitization (antibody production) occurs in only 3-4% of cases, when medaborta - 5-6%, after normal delivery - 15%. At the same time, the risk of sensitization increases with placental abruption and caesarean section.