RH disease essays

RH disease essays Rh disease is a blood disorder that affects over 4,000 babies in the United States every year. This disease affects newborns every year because of an incompatibility between the mothers blood and her fetus during pregnancy. It causes severe destruction of the fetus red blood cells. This disease does not affect the mothers health at all, but can result in the baby having yellow skin and eyes, anemia, brain damage, heart failure, or even cause death among some newborns. An Rh factor in an inherited protein found on the surface of a persons red blood cells. When someone is born with out this factor, they are considered to be Rh negative. If a woman is Rh negative, and conceives a baby with an Rh-positive man, it is possible that her baby could inherit the fathers Rh-positive blood. This is a problem because due to the fact that the mother and babies Rh factors are not the same, the mothers body often develops antibodies that try to fight off the babys Rh-positive blood. These antibodies will then in turn destroy the fetal blood cells, resulting in Rh disease. When a womans body develops these antibodies against her baby, it is called sensitization. A woman can find out if she is Rh-negative by receiving a simple blood test from her doctor or obstetrician. If in fact a woman is Rh-negative and pregnant, there are two options that a woman can take. If it the womans first child she can often wait until she delivers the baby, and then receive an injection with in the first 72 hours after the baby was born. A woman can also receive an injection about 28 weeks into her pregnancy to help prevent the development of antibodies against the baby. If a woman opts to have the injections before birth, the injections must be repeated every 12 weeks. The injection that the woman receives is called immunoglobulin (RhIg) or RhoGam. This injection works to prevent the development or ...