Question
A pregnant woman is about to enter the late stage of pregnancy, and she has O-negative blood type. It is understood that this blood type may lead to incompatibility with the fetus’s blood type, which can then trigger hemolytic problems. How should neonatal hemolytic disease caused by AB0 blood group incompatibility be handled?
Answer
AB0 hemolytic disease is a neonatal hemolytic disease caused by incompatibility between the mother and baby’s blood types, also known as “neonatal AB0 hemolytic disease.” It is a homologous immune hemolytic disease, and in China, neonatal hemolysis is mostly AB0 hemolytic. During pregnancy or childbirth, a large number of fetal red blood cells may enter the mother’s body. If the blood types do not match, and the mother lacks the fetal red blood cell antigens, the mother will produce corresponding antibodies. Currently, if the mother is O-negative and the next generation is not O-negative, the risk of hemolysis is higher. In such cases, it is recommended that pregnant women undergo regular prenatal examinations during pregnancy.