Bearing and having a baby is a very exciting and serious process. Throughout pregnancy, medical specialists (perinatologists, gynecologists) monitor a whole list of indicators and evaluate factors characterizing the state of health of the mother and the developing baby. One of these indicators is the Rh factor of the fetus.
What is the Rh factor
Under this concept is a special protein located on the surface of red blood cells. Most people (about 85%) have this protein, so they are called Rh-positive. The remaining 15% of the world's population does not have this protein. Such people are considered Rh-negative. In other words, the Rh factor is one of the many immunological characteristics of the blood, which does not affect the state of human health.
When is this important?
There are situations when you need to know about your Rhesus affiliation. Firstly, this is important when a situation arises when a blood transfusion is required . Secondly, preparation for surgery also requires awareness of this issue. Thirdly, it is important to know the Rhesus affiliation of the fetus when planning pregnancy and having a baby. In this case, the most dangerous situation is when the expectant mother is Rh-negative and the developing baby has positive blood. It already makes sense to talk about Rhesus conflict.
The essence of the "conflict situation"
Imagine that a woman has Rh-negative blood, and the future father is Rh-positive. The likelihood of a conflict developing in this case is estimated as 50 to 50. This is quite a lot, so the situation should be closely monitored by specialists.
With this option, the child can inherit the positive Rh factor of the father from future parents. Through the placental barrier , the baby’s red blood cells can enter the mother’s blood and will be perceived by her body as strangers, which will give an impetus to her immune system to develop antibodies to destroy the baby’s red blood cells. In severe cases, there is a threat to the life of the child, so an analysis of the Rh factor of the fetus means giving the baby a chance to be born healthy.
Symptomatology
Why do you need to know the Rh factor of your unborn baby? Having completed all the necessary studies, the future mother will either completely exclude the possibility of developing a conflict, calm down and have a healthy baby, or find out about the existing problem and take all necessary measures to give birth to a healthy baby.
However, for the body of an adult woman, all processes associated with this kind of conflict do not pose any threat or danger and do not have any symptoms. Whereas for a child this situation can have disastrous consequences.
Terrible signs of the presence of problems with Rhesus affiliation makes it possible to see an ultrasound of the fetus. Here you will see accumulations of fluid in those places where it should not be, and swelling, and the baby’s pose, which cannot be called natural (Buddha’s pose).
The accumulation of large volumes of fluid leads to an increase in the child’s tummy, forcing him to spread his legs apart. When conducting an ultrasound with a high degree of probability, a double contour of the child's head will be visible, which indicates the presence of puffiness. The size of the placenta and the diameter of the vein in the umbilical cord are not up to standard.
All these signs indicate the development of a conflict between mother and baby organisms and should become the motive in order to find out the Rhesus affiliation of a child developing in the womb.
Maternal blood rhesus factor definitions
Modern medical equipment makes it possible to find out the Rh factor of the fetus already in the first trimester of pregnancy, starting from 10 weeks.
The essence of the method is as follows. The future mother takes venous blood. DNA from the baby developing in the womb is secreted from it. Further, this DNA is examined for the presence of the RhD gene (Rh factor) in it. If fragments of the Rhesus factor are detected during the research, it can be considered that the future person is Rh-positive. If there are no such fragments in the child’s DNA, then the baby has a negative Rhesus affiliation.
Timely determination of the Rhesus fetus makes it possible to start preventive measures in time, postponing the occurrence of Rhesus conflicts at a later date and, as a result, minimizing harm to the health of the child.
This technique is considered non-invasive and does not pose any threat to the life and health of the mother and child. However, until recently, it was possible to find out the Rh factor of the fetus only by conducting research on placental villi or fetal blood taken in utero. These types of techniques (amniocentesis, cordocentesis) are considered invasive and only strict medical indications can cause their appointment.
Amniocentesis
If there is a need to find out the condition of the child as accurately as possible, the question arises of how to determine the Rh factor of the fetus, specialists can offer amniocentesis, which is a puncture of the fetal bladder with the aim of taking amniotic fluid for research on the content of bilirubin in them. This indicator characterizes the condition of the baby with high accuracy.
However, a woman should know that this procedure is quite dangerous. There is always a chance of infection in the amniotic fluid. It is also possible leakage of fluid beyond the fetal bladder, the appearance of bleeding. Determination of the Rh factor of the fetus by amniocentesis can provoke placental abruption ahead of time.
The procedure can be prescribed in cases when antibodies to the Rh factor are already present in the mother’s blood and their content (titer) is 1:16 or this woman already has a child with severe hemolytic disease of the newborn (GBN).
Cordocentesis
How to find out the Rh factor of the fetus using this technique? The bottom line is that the umbilical cord is punctured, and blood is taken from there for research. Using this method, the level of bilirubin is established more accurately than with amniocentesis. Blood transfusion to the baby is also performed using this method.
Cordocentesis is also quite dangerous and can cause all the complications characteristic of amniocentesis. In addition, the formation of a hematoma on the umbilical cord is possible, which in the future can disrupt the normal metabolism between the mother and baby.
Determination of the Rhesus factor of the fetus with the use of cordocentesis is usually prescribed when the antibody content is in the proportion of 1:32, the presence of children, patients with GBN or who died from the consequences of the Rhesus conflict.
Is it possible to treat rhesus conflicts in pregnant women
Treatment, of course, is possible. However, the most effective method that gives the most effective result is a blood transfusion to a child. The procedure among specialists is considered very risky, but significantly improves the condition of the future person, and with a high degree of probability makes it possible to avoid premature delivery.
Previously, other treatment methods were popular, which nevertheless did not give an obvious therapeutic effect and were considered to be little or completely ineffective. Such methods include skin grafting from the husband of the future mother, plasmapheresis, etc.
In any case, if the Rhesus factor of the fetus and its mother makes it possible to diagnose the Rh conflict, the most effective option for the successful completion of pregnancy and the birth of a healthy baby will be under the supervision of medical specialists and the implementation of all their instructions and appointments.
Rhesus conflict and delivery
When the question of how to determine the Rh factor of the fetus is resolved, and the presence of conflict in the mother's body is established, the time factor is of great importance during pregnancy. Experts say that the sooner this happened, the greater the problems and complications of pregnancy.
The reason for this phenomenon is that the effect of the Rhesus conflict accumulates over time. Therefore, in the bulk of cases, such a pregnancy is recommended by specialists to end with planned preterm delivery.
Doctors in every way possible monitor the condition of the child and, based on the information received, make a decision on whether it is necessary to maintain a pregnancy or whether it is safer for the baby to be born a little ahead of time. Natural birth in such situations is possible only if the child is in a satisfactory condition and there are no other complications. In the process of developing labor, doctors monitor the vital characteristics of the baby’s condition and if any factors that complicate the birth appear, a decision is made to perform a cesarean section. For this particular problem, this option of delivery is considered the most sparing.