Question

I have a question on blood typing. If Brittany is blood type O- and her husband is blood type AB-, what effect can the Rh factor have on their second child? Please explain to me.

Answer 1

Would there even be an effect? Since both parents have the Rh factor negative wouldn't their children all be Rh- factors?

Answer 2

Significant problems with ABO incompatibility occur mostly with babies whose mothers have O blood type and where the baby is either A or B blood type. Premature babies are much more likely to experience severe problems from ABO incompatibility, while healthy full term babies are generally only mildly affected. Unlike haemolytic disease that can result in subsequent babies when a mother has a negative blood group, ABO incompatibility can occur in first-born babies and does not become more severe in further pregnancies.
The genes you inherit from your parents determine your blood group. There are four blood types; A, B, AB and O. Each blood type has its own individual collection of chemicals on the blood cell surface known as antigens, so type A has the A antigen, B has the B antigen, AB has both antigens and O contains no antigen. If different blood types mix, an immune response occurs and the person will produce antibodies to attack the foreign blood antigen.
Antibodies against the foreign blood types A and B may be formed. These antibodies could then pass across the placental membrane into the baby’s circulation and may result in the destruction of some of the baby’s red blood cells. This destruction of red cells causes an increase in the production of bilirubin – a waste product. If too much bilirubin is produced, it can overwhelm the baby’s normal waste elimination processes and lead to jaundice.

For babies affected by ABO incompatibility, anaemia may become an issue after a few weeks. The anaemia is caused by the faster than normal breakdown of the baby’s red blood cells caused by the mother’s antibodies. These antibodies can linger in the baby’s circulation for weeks after birth. Because of this, some babies will need to have blood tests to check the level of anaemia.

Routine blood screening tests in pregnancy do not screen for ABO incompatibility. Testing in pregnancy is not recommended as antibody levels do not correlate well to actual ABO haemolytic disease in the baby. There are no preventative measures that can be taken.

After birth there are two options for testing for ABO incompatibility:

The cord blood of all babies whose mothers have an O blood group and the father either type A or B blood is tested The theory behind this approach is that if the baby is type A or B and they test positive in direct antiglobulin tests (DAT), the baby can then be followed closely for jaundice.
The alternate approach is to screen any baby who becomes significantly jaundiced (particularly within the first 24 hours).


but u asked about rh incompatibility which would not occur in ur case but abo incompatibility ....reach ur own conclusion

Answer 3

Rhesus inheritance patterns

The Rh blood group system is attributable to two genes, RHD and RHCE, which are located on chromosome 1.

Rh positivity or Rh negativity is distinguished by testing for the Rh(D) antigen, the expression of which depends upon whether an RHD gene has been inherited from one or both parents.

The RHD gene is dominant so a person is considered to be Rh(D)-positive whenever this gene is present, even though the gene may have been inherited from one parent. Conversely, a person will be Rh(D)-negative if no RHD gene is inherited.

Rhesus Inheritance Patterns

Answer 4

parents Positive and Positive child Positive or Negative


parents Positive and Negative child Positive or Negative

parents Negative and Negative child Negative

since rh negative baby wont induce antibodies in rh negative mother no rh incompatibility