The trait’s highest incidence is among the Basques of the Pyrenees (25–35 percent) and the Imazighen (Berbers) of Africa and the Bedouins of the Sinai Peninsula (18–30 percent). Copyright 2025 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Read copyright and permissions information.This information is designed as an educational aid for the public. It offers current information and opinions related to women’s health. It is not intended as a statement of the standard of care. It does not explain all of the proper treatments or methods of care.
What is the Rh Factor?
It only becomes important when blood types are mixed together, like during pregnancy and childbirth. Rh incompatibility symptoms in your unborn baby can range from mild to life-threatening. When your antibodies attack your baby’s red blood cells, hemolytic disease can occur. Determining blood types is essential for compatibility. If the immune system detects the antigens in incompatible blood, it will recognize those RBCs as foreign and destroy them, which could result in life threatening complications. If the antibody screen shows that you’re already producing antibodies, an injection of Rh immune globulin won’t help.
How does Rh factor affect pregnancy?
Rh incompatibility is rarely a problem in countries with good medical care, however. If you’re Rh-negative, your partner may also be tested. If your partner is also Rh-negative, you don’t have anything to worry about. If your partner is Rh-positive and you’re Rh-negative, your doctor will look for the following signs of Rh incompatibility. A blood test to determine your Rh status will likely be done at your first prenatal visit with your doctor. In this article, we discuss the importance of the Rh factor and blood typing.
Rh factor blood test
Easily book meetings, events, and receive reminders about upcoming activities with Yahoo Calendar. Keeping everything in one place ensures you always know what’s coming up in your busy life. Create up to 500 temporary email addresses to use when you want to stay private. Perfect for sign-ups, trials, or one-time use — delete them anytime. Quickly see a gallery-style preview of the images and documents attached to your messages. To open gallery view for attachments in a message, hover over an attachment thumbnail at the bottom of the message and click Preview. Yahoo Mail has all the features you need to get through your inbox faster.
Overview of New Yahoo Mail
- This process produces erythroblastosis fetalis, or hemolytic disease of the newborn, which can be fatal to the fetus or to the infant shortly after birth.
- When RBCs break down, they release bilirubin, which may cause jaundice.
- The first infant is usually unaffected because the maternal immune response develops slowly.
- To open gallery view for attachments in a message, hover over an attachment thumbnail at the bottom of the message and click Preview.
An attack by the anti-D antibodies on the fetal blood cells can result in hemolytic disease of the newborn. Additionally, the Rh factor is important in blood donations and transfusions. For example, an Rh-negative person can only receive Rh-negative blood. Otherwise, they may experience a hemolytic transfusion reaction, which can cause serious complications. The Rh factor is an inherited protein that can be present on the surface of RBCs. There are five main Rh antigens on RBCs, of which the most important is the Rh D antigen. The Rh D antigen is the most immunogenic, meaning that it may provoke an immune response.
Premium features. Powerful inbox.
In that case, the pregnant person is Rh negative while her growing fetus is Rh positive–this is called Rh incompatibility. In very rare and serious cases, a series of special blood transfusions can be performed while your baby is in your uterus or after delivery. This blood product contains antibodies to the Rh factor. If your baby has Rh-positive blood, you should get a second injection a few days after you give birth. A mother can be exposed to Rh-positive blood during certain prenatal tests or procedures.
Health News
A similar hazard exists during pregnancy for the Rh-positive offspring of Rh-incompatible parents, when the mother is Rh-negative and the father is Rh-positive. The first child of such parents is usually in no danger unless the mother has acquired anti-Rh antibodies by virtue of incompatible blood transfusion. During labour, however, a small amount of the fetus’s blood may enter the mother’s bloodstream. The mother will then produce anti-Rh antibodies, which will attack any Rh-incompatible fetus in subsequent pregnancies. This process produces erythroblastosis fetalis, or hemolytic disease of the newborn, which can be fatal to the fetus or to the infant shortly after birth.
Treatment with Rh immune globulin won’t help if an Rh-negative woman has already made antibodies. This is why it’s important to know your Rh factor and get treatment as soon as possible. Signs of red blood cell destruction in your infant’s blood may indicate Rh incompatibility. This can be determined by the shape and structure of the red blood lucky chicken road game cells when examined under a microscope. Higher-than-normal levels of bilirubin in your infant’s blood is a sign of Rh incompatibility.
Care at Cleveland Clinic
It takes time for the body to develop antibodies, so firstborn children usually aren’t affected. However, if a mother became sensitized because of a miscarriage or abortion, her first live birth may be affected by Rh incompatibility. During pregnancy, complications may occur if you’re Rh-negative and the fetus is Rh-positive. Treatments are available to prevent complications of Rh incompatibility. RhoGAM is an injection used to prevent Rh incompatibility from developing. It acts as a “barrier” to protect the woman’s blood from reacting to the fetus’ Rh-positive cells. If a woman is Rh negative but her partner is Rh positive, it is possible for the fetus to inherit that gene from the father.
