Question
I want to have my second child. I am O-type, and my husband is B-type. However, the first child did not develop hemolytic disease, and I don’t know how high the risk is for the second child. How can I determine if the child has hemolytic disease?
Answer
Neonatal ABO hemolytic disease is caused by incompatibility between the mother and baby’s ABO blood types, which is more common in mothers with O blood type and babies with A or B blood types. Although this incompatibility is not uncommon, the incidence of neonatal hemolytic disease is relatively low, and most symptoms are mild, with only a few newborns showing significant jaundice. Diagnosis can be confirmed through Coomb’s test and antibody release test.