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?
This post tells it all:
a blood group test is among the first routine tests to be performed by the
gynaecologist.
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.
from others in features. Each red blood cell carries antigens on its surface
that specify the blood group.
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.
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?
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.
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
Introduction to Immunoglobulins
| thermofisher.com
Guest post by Annie Doe
