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Re: anti-little-c? will it hurt the baby?From: Bryce (anonymous@obgyn.net)Thu, 4 Nov 1999 21:02:47 -0600 (CST)
At Mon, 1 Nov 1999, Christine wrote: > >At Sun, 31 Oct 1999, Bryce wrote: >> >>my wife is pregnant, about 2 months along. Just recently she visited >>her Dr. for a routine exam. He informed her that he would need all the >>files about her pregnancy w/my 19 month old daughter because the blood >>test showed something he called "anti-little-c", which he said is fatal >>to the fetus in 9 out of 10 cases. He also said that if it was present >>during her last pregancy, then she probally did not have to worry. The >>Dr. also left on vacation and won't be back for a week and I am going >>nuts, i need to know about this "anti-little-c" thing, or at least where >>I can find some info. A little info that may help, I am blood type AB+ >>and my wife is o+. When Staci was born they said she had a high >>"Billy-ruben" count. We were told that was because her body was >>fighting it's own blood because of our two different types. Does any of >>this make any sense? Is it all related? Please help me understand this. >> Thank you for your time, >> Bryce >> >>-- >>Bryce Riha >>CarDr21@AOL.COM > >Hi Bryce: >If you are type AB and your wife is type O, you can only have children >either type A or type O. (not AB or O) >When this happens, the O mother's antibodies against A or B can cause >what is known as "ABO Incompatibility" in the baby. These antibodies >attack the baby's red cells (where the corresponding antigens are >located) and the byproducts of this causes an increase in bilirubin in >the blood. The baby's skin turns a yellowish hue and he/she is put >under the lights. Elevated bilirubin can cause problems but usually >only when very high, which is why they stay on top of the situation with >bili levels in the baby, and the lights. In extreme cases an exchange >transfusion can be done, but I don't think this happens very often with >ABO incompatibility. Your first baby's increased bilirubin was probably >due to this ABO incompatibility. >"Little c" is part of the RH system, which is different than the ABO >system. The most serious form of RH incompatibility is the formation of >Anti-D (a part of the RH system) in the RH negative mother. This is >what happened years ago and can now be prevented with products like >Rhogam. Unless they have come up with something new in the 20 years I >have been out of the field, there is no similar preventative product for >the other parts of the RH system. >In the past,they didn't usually test for antibodies in the RH postive >mother unless there was reason to suspect a problem. I am curious-are >they now testing all mothers for antibodies? They will follow your wife >with antibody titers (levels)periodically throughout her pregnancy. They >can tell how serious the problem is by the rise in titer. With good >prenatal care, I don't think it is true that this problem is fatal in 9 >cases out of 10! Your wife would have the little c antibody in her last >pregnancy if she had once had a blood transfusion, miscarriage, or >previous pregnancy. (and the transfused blood or fetus had the little c >factor) She won't have a problem with this pregnancy unless this baby >has the little c factor(previous exposure to this is what made the >little c antibody in your wife)inherited from you. According to the >book I am looking at, 18-20% of the U.S. population does not carry the >little c factor. This second baby would have inherited the big C factor >from your wife (she can't have the little c factor since she made little >c antibody) and perhaps from you also, in which case there would be no >problem. If the second baby inherited the little c factor from you, >with good prenatal care, things should go okay also. Hope this helps. > >Chris S. Chris, Thank you for the reply, it does help. I had a feeling it was similar to the same thing that we had w/ our first baby, I just don't understand why the first doctor never said anything untill the baby was born and this one is starting off with it. Maybe it's because he specializes in hi-risk pregeancy and he is just over cautious. lets hope. Thank you agian for your time.
-- Bryce Riha CarDr21@AOL.COM
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