Many women are unaware that one of the common reasons for miscarriage is Rhesus factor incompatibility. Most people (about 85% of humans) have the antigen known as the Rhesus factor on the surface of their red blood cells.
It's also known as the Rh factor. Rhesus factor positive refers to those with the Rh "positive" (+) blood types, such as A+, O+, or B+, whereas rhesus factor negative refers to people with the Rh "negative" (-) blood types, such as A-, O-, or AB-. After the blood group, the (+) and (-) signs indicate the kind of Rhesus factor, whether it is positive or negative.
A+, A-, B+, B-, AB+, AB-, O+, and O- are the common types. The Rhesus factor is inherited, and it comes from the parents, most definitely the father.
How does the Rhesus factor cause miscarriage?
There would be no problem if a man with Rh- impregnated an Rh- woman. However, if a man with Rh+ impregnates an Rh- woman, there may be a problem if the child receives Rh+ from the father.
This condition is referred to in medicine as Rhesus Factor Incompatibility. Infancy would be Rh+. The woman's body's immune system rapidly activates the antibodies during childbirth once the baby's Rh+ makes contact with her Rh- during delivery.
A foreign body or threat would be recognized by the activated antibodies as the new Rh+, and as a result, there would be an alert to attack and remove this foreign body. Unfortunately, as a result, the mother would continue to experience miscarriages after this particular birth since the activated antibodies would perceive subsequent Rh+ pregnancies as foreign things and would keep fighting and removing them.
Rh-sensitized women have antibodies that have been activated against the Rh, and once activated; these antibodies cannot be deactivated until the woman passes away.
Childbirth, abortion, miscarriage, and ectopic pregnancy all trigger the production of Rh-induced antibodies in Rh- women.
If an Rh- woman abort for an Rh+ man and the antibodies are activated in her body, she may remain childless for the rest of her life unless she later marries another Rh- man. Given that around 85% of people are Rh+, the likelihood of an Rh- woman finding an Rh- man is quite remote. This is a message to our young females who have abortions solely to date their boyfriends.
If you’re a woman, who hasn’t committed an abortion with your boyfriend, and you don’t want to leave him, but you're Rh– and your fiancé is Rh+, then you need to take note of the following: To prevent spontaneous abortion owing to Rhesus factor incompatibility, doctors would administer an injection called Rhogam to women in this category both during and after pregnancy to inhibit the activation of the antibodies.
The injection is normally administered after ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, 28 weeks into pregnancy, or after 72 hours of delivery. If the injection is not administered at the above-specified stages, and the antibodies become activated, they would never be deactivated again.
Women who are unfortunate enough to experience repeated spontaneous miscarriages due to Rhesus factor incompatibility are still stigmatized as witches in many African tribes today.
Some of the women would blame their in-laws for their situation.
As a result, women with Rh- should exercise extreme caution. Since roughly 85% of people are Rh+ve, it could be challenging for you to find a husband who is Rh-ve. Therefore, keep the information above in mind and seek genetic counseling to avoid running into the aforementioned issue.
If you have a daughter or sister who has Rh-, you should educate her on the risks associated with Rhesus Factor Incompatibility. The fact that an Rh- person (man or woman) cannot accept blood from a Rh+ person, even though their blood groups are the same, should also be emphasized. Such blood transfusions have devastating results. There will be blood reactions that could lead to death.
It is advisable to know your rhesus factor today because this knowledge will eliminate so many unpleasant experiences.