Rh- Incompatibility (Fact sheet #6)

People with different blood types have proteins specific to that blood type on the surfaces of their red blood cells (RBCs). There are four blood types — A, B, AB, and O. Each of the four blood types is further classified based on the presence of another protein on the surface of RBCs that indicates the Rh factor. If you carry this protein, you are Rh positive. If you don't carry the protein, you are Rh negative.
Most people — about 85% — are Rh positive. But if a woman who is Rh negative and a man who is Rh positive conceive a baby, there is the potential for a baby to have a health problem. The baby growing inside the Rh-negative mother may have Rh-positive blood, inherited from the father. Approximately half of the children born to an Rh-negative mother and Rh-positive father will be Rh positive.
During delivery, the mother's and baby's blood can intermingle. If this happens, the mother's body recognizes the Rh protein as a foreign substance and might begin making antibodies (protein molecules in the immune system that recognize, and later work to destroy, foreign substances) against the Rh proteins. Rh antibodies are harmless until the mother's second or later pregnancies. If she is ever carrying another Rh-positive child, her Rh antibodies will recognize the Rh proteins on the surface of the baby's blood cells as foreign, and pass into the baby's bloodstream and attack those cells. 

Preventing and Treating Rh Disease of the Newborn

In generations past, Rh incompatibility was a very serious problem. But now, significant medical advances can help prevent complications from Rh incompatibility and treat any newborn affected by Rh disease.
Today, when a woman with the potential to develop Rh incompatibility is pregnant, doctors give her a series of two Rh immune-globulin shots during her first pregnancy. The first shot is given around the 28th week of pregnancy and the second within 72 hours after giving birth. Rh immune-globulin acts like a vaccine, preventing the mother's body from producing any potentially dangerous Rh antibodies that can cause serious complications in the newborn or complicate any future pregnancies. A dose of Rh immune-globulin also might be given if a woman has a miscarriage, an amniocentesis, or any bleeding during pregnancy. If a doctor finds that a woman has already developed Rh antibodies, her pregnancy will be closely monitored to make sure that those levels are not too high.
Rh incompatibility rarely causes complications in a first pregnancy and does not affect the health of the mother. But if Rh antibodies develop, they could be dangerous to a fetus during later pregnancies. Rh disease can cause severe anemia, jaundice, brain damage, and heart failure in a newborn. In extreme cases, it can cause the death of the fetus because too many RBCs have been destroyed.

If you're not sure what your Rh factor is and think you're pregnant, it's important to start regular prenatal care as soon as possible — including blood-type testing. With early detection and treatment of Rh incompatibility, you can focus on more important things — like welcoming a new, healthy baby.

Source - Kidshealth, babycenter 

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