Pre-Marital Blood Typing: How is it important?
Pre-Marital blood typing is very important, assuming of course that you are not planning babies before marriage! In that case, you can go on & read it as Pre-conception blood typing.
There are more than 20 genetically determined blood group systems known today, but the ABO and Rh systems are the most important ones with significant clinical implications in cases of blood transfusion & pregnancy. This is due to the fact that all blood groups are not compatible with each other & mixing of incompatible blood groups may frequently lead to clumping or agglutination of blood cells, which is dangerous & may prove fatal.
Roughly, about 85% people are estimated to be Rh positive. However, if a woman who is Rh negative and a man who is Rh positive conceive a baby, there is a considerable potential for hemolytic disorders to arise as the baby developing inside the Rh-negative mother’s body may have Rh-positive blood, inherited from the father. This is termed as Rh Incompatibility.
Blood Type Test Kit
Blood Type Test Kit In case of first pregnancy, Rh incompatibility usually isn’t a problem because unless there’s some sort of abnormality, the fetus’s blood does not normally enter the mother’s circulatory system during the course of the pregnancy. However, during delivery, the mother’s and baby’s blood can intermingle. If this happens, the mother’s body recognizes the Rh proteins as a foreign substance and can begin producing antibodies against it. These antibodies are introduced into mother’s blood. An Rh-negative pregnant woman can be exposed to the Rh antigens by blood transfusions with Rh-positive blood, miscarriage, or an ectopic pregnancy i.e. from a pregnancy resulting from gestation elsewhere than in the uterus.
Rh antibodies are harmless until the mother’s second or later pregnancies. If she ever again carry’s another Rh-positive child, her Rh antibodies will recognize the Rh antigens on the surface of the baby’s blood cells as foreign, and pass into the baby’s bloodstream and attack those cells. This can lead to swelling and rupture of the baby’s red blood cells leading to reduction in baby’s blood count. This condition is termed as hemolytic or Rh disease of the newborn. The baby’s RBC count can get dangerously low & may prove fatal.
Prevention and Treatment:
Such complications may be prevented by proper pre-marital or importantly, pre-conception blood typing & counseling. By knowing your own & your partner’s blood type, proper preventive measures can be taken to avoid potential medical ramifications. Fortunately, significant medical advances have been made so far to help prevent complications from Rh incompatibility and to treat any newborn affected by such Rh diseases.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:45 am
i am newly married 36 years, male with A positive blood, but my wife 31, A negitive blood group.
tell me is there any chance of pregnancy ? please tell in detail if pregnancy occurs, will it be complication/ Risk Free ? ? ?
December 10th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Hey Shahbaz! Don’t worry, at least for the first pregnancy. As I have mentioned in the article above, Rh incompatibility based hemolytic complications may arise only in second or later pregnancies. After first pregnancy, you may visit hematology department of some nearby hospital and check if there are Rh antibodies in your wife’s serum. If it tests positive, there may be problems.
Kind Regards,
Tarun
January 5th, 2010 at 2:41 am
Hi, I am about getting married and my fiancee is B+ while I am O+, are we compatible? Please send me a mail on my mail.
Thank you
February 25th, 2010 at 7:30 am
Hi may i know what’s your answer to the above question?Im an o+(not sure if im a + or -) and my boyfriend is B+. Are we compatible?Would appreciate your reply. Thank you
March 5th, 2010 at 12:22 am
Hi! I’m getting married. I’m B- while my fiance is O+. Are we compatible?
June 27th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
I am 0+ and my fiancee is also 0+? There is a problem when we will decide to have children?
Thank you
August 12th, 2011 at 1:26 am
[...] it is quite possible that two parents with Rh+ factors to produce an Rh- child. So careful pre-marital blood typing counseling & planning is [...]
November 21st, 2011 at 8:24 am
my BG IS B- and wife O + wat shud we do
March 5th, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Hi! I’m getting married. I’m O+ while my fiancee is AB+. Are we compatible?
July 13th, 2012 at 8:46 am
Hi
I’m either B- or A+ (getting tested soon!!) and my fiancee is O+. are we compatible? in terms of having a child and its health? can you please send an answer to my e-mail?
Thanks in anticipation
November 14th, 2012 at 1:48 am
is B Rh- male compactible with B Rh+ female
March 1st, 2013 at 10:04 am
Mypartner and i are planning to have hopefully at least two children he is 0 positive i am 0 negative, will there be an complications, is it possible for us to get pregnant