Knowing your blood group provides important information for emergencies such as blood donations, surgeries, or during pregnancy.
It is also quite intriguing to
discover how blood types are acquired for the next generation, and why is it
essential to identify your baby's blood group during pregnancy?
Types
of blood groups
Blood groups are of four distinct
types;
·
Blood group A
Blood group B
·
Blood group AB
·
Blood group O
Your blood group or
type is
named by these four alphabets.
The
Rh system and D antigen
You are familiar with the terms; the positive blood group and the negative blood group.
What does it mean?
The presence of Rh antigen on
blood cells determines the blood group is positive. For example, if blood group
type A has Rh antigens, it will be the A+ blood group.
· Blood group A + Rh antigen = A positive
·
Blood group A + No Rh antigen = A negative
·
Blood group B + Rh antigen = B positive
·
Blood group B + No Rh antigen = B negative
·
Blood group AB + Rh antigen = AB positive
·
Blood group AB + No Rh antigen = AB negative
·
Blood group O + Rh antigen = O positive
· Blood group O + No Rh antigen = O negative
Why
is it important to know the baby's blood group?
It does really matter whether your blood group is positive or negative because it does not cause any health complications until you are pregnant.
If a woman has an Rh-negative blood group and her partner is Rh-positive, their child might be Rh positive or Rh negative, depending on his parent’s blood type.
There will be no harm to the woman or her developing fetus if she has the positive blood type and her child has a negative blood type.
Logically, if she has a negative blood group and her baby has a positive blood group, her blood cells may make antibodies against the baby's blood if they interact.
There is always a chance that your blood and the baby's blood will interact during pregnancy and delivery. Having a positive blood group doesn't make a difference, even if your baby has a negative one.
This is because your blood cells have a protective Rh factor on their surface and can handle any other blood type in small amounts in your body.
In another way, if your blood is
negative, it doesn't have the protective rhesus factor. When it meets the
baby's positive blood, your body can start to make antibodies that attack the
positive blood.
Pregnancy can be menacing for both you and your baby because antibodies can build up and if any other future pregnancy has positive blood, the same attack might happen again.
A serum injection is injected into the mother that stops the cells from making antibodies that attack Rh-positive blood, thanks to the advancements in drugs! This injection is known as anti-D, and it has anti-D gammaglobulin in it.
Given the fact that the baby's blood type won't be determined until after birth, you should take extra precautions throughout pregnancy to reduce the risk of an allergic response.
Anti-D injections at 28 and 34 weeks’ gestation are suggested for women with negative blood types who are at risk of generating antibodies that might harm their baby and subsequent conceptions.
A blood sample from the umbilical cord will be taken after the delivery of the infant to determine the newborn's blood type. However, there are some other ways to determine the baby’s blood group even before birth.
Determine Baby’s blood type using online tools
Using online blood group calculators can let you know the blood group of your offspring. These calculators predict the baby’s blood group according to the parent's blood groups, which are 90 percent accurate.
You may find hundreds of online
blood type calculators on the internet, but not all of them offer accurate
results. These three blood calculators, we are mentioning below, will provide
the most accurate prediction about your baby’s blood group.
Calculators.tech
It is the best online blood type
calculator that predicts your child’s blood group online. The tool has the
following standing out features that makes it number one on the list.
● It
gives fast results.
● It
is free to use.
● The
user interface is pretty friendly.
● It
is a two-step calculator; select the mother's blood group and the father’s
blood group. And this calculator will give you the result based on probability.
● It gives the most accurate prediction.
Ecalculator.co
This is another online and free blood group type calculator that helps you to determine your unborn baby’s blood type. Using this online calculator is straightforward.
Choose mother’s and father’s blood group type and results will be on-screen.
● It
is easy to use
● Estimates
baby’s blood group in percentage.
● Free
to use for unlimited times
● It
also offers a Punnett square blood type calculator.
Babymed.com
This interactive blood group calculator is known for determining the baby’s probable blood group type if you know the blood group type of you and your partner.
The good thing about the tool is
that it not only predicts the baby’s blood group, but also helps to find out the
blood group of your parents if they are uncertain about it.
Conclusion
You need to be careful, particularly if you have a negative blood group and your baby has a positive group.
When both get mixed, your blood might produce antibodies against the baby’s blood group that can cause complications.
Early pregnancy tests can determine the blood group of your baby, and doctors can then further recommend the administration of Anti-D to all negative blood group mothers that will prevent the antibody's production against the baby’s blood group.
Online blood type calculators are
another easy way to know your baby’s blood group in early pregnancy or even
before pregnancy so that you can avoid any complications.
Citation and Resources:
https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/the-rh-factor-how-it-can-affect-your-pregnancy
Introduction to Immunoglobulins
| thermofisher.com
Guest post by Annie Doe
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