Why is it Important to know your baby's blood type?

 

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?

 Do you want to know why it is so? This post tells it all:

 Once pregnancy has been confirmed, a blood group test is among the first routine tests to be performed by the gynaecologist.

 It is significant to identify blood type while you are pregnant because it may have a huge effect on the baby's health as well as yours. To start, let's go over the different blood types first.

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.

 Each type of blood group differs from others in features. Each red blood cell carries antigens on its surface that specify the blood group.

 For better understanding, you can think of antigens as hats. Blood group A wears A hat, whereas blood group B wears a B hat, blood group AB wears AB hat and blood group wears no hat as it does not have an antigen on the red blood cell’s surface.

 These antigens produce specific antibodies and release them into the blood plasma. For example, Group A produces B antibodies, group B produces A antibodies, group AB produces no antibodies and group O produces both antibodies A and B.

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?

 Human blood groups also have another antigen other than antigen A and antigen B on the red blood cell’s surface, known as Rhesus factor or Rh antigen.

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.

 The same goes for all other blood group types.

·        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

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Guest post by Annie Doe