How to prevent neonatal hemolysis

Many genetic diseases can occur in newborns, and the symptoms of hemolytic disease are very serious. Because hemolysis mainly refers to the rupture of red blood cells in the human body, causing other substances to enter the red blood cells. So if hemolysis occurs, it will cause very serious symptoms in the human body, and hemolysis is most likely to occur in newborns, so how can we prevent hemolysis in newborns?

Hemolytic disease of the newborn refers to an immune hemolytic disease of the fetus or newborn caused by incompatibility of blood types between mother and fetus. Among the 26 human blood type systems discovered, ABO blood type incompatibility is the most common. ABO hemolytic disease is an immune response caused by the mismatch between the fetal and maternal blood types. The fetus' blood type is inherited from its parents. If the parents have the same blood type, there is no need to worry about hemolysis in the fetus.

If the parents' blood types are inconsistent, especially if the mother is type O and the father is type A or type BAB, and the fetus's blood type inherits the father's blood type, because the fetus's blood type is inconsistent with the mother's blood type, it will stimulate the mother to produce an rejection reaction, resulting in hemolytic disease. Therefore, if the mother has type O blood and the father does not have type O blood, you must be vigilant during pregnancy to prevent neonatal hemolytic disease in time.

What are the risks of hemolytic disease of the newborn?

1. Fetal edema: Pregnant women will gain weight rapidly during pregnancy, indicating the possibility of placental edema. Children with edema can usually be delivered at 28 to 34 weeks of gestation, and a few can live to full term. When delivered, newborns can have pleural, abdominal and pericardial effusions, enlarged hearts and pale skin. The prognosis for infants is poor, and most die shortly after birth.

2. Newborns will develop pathological jaundice: Neonatal jaundice is the most common clinical phenomenon in newborns. It is caused by abnormal bilirubin metabolism. Generally, neonatal jaundice is physiological and is caused by the characteristics of bilirubin metabolism. After about half a month, the bilirubin metabolism returns to normal and the jaundice disappears on its own. The jaundice of affected newborns is close to normal when they are just born, but the jaundice continues to increase in the following days. Jaundice does not go away on its own and requires treatment. It usually appears between the 2nd and 5th day after birth and can be easily misdiagnosed as physiological jaundice.

3. Anemia in newborns: The degree of anemia varies. In severe cases, tissue hypoxia can lead to heart enlargement and even heart failure, which is manifested as shortness of breath, groaning, rapid heart rate, cyanosis, and hepatosplenomegaly in newborns.

4. Hepatosplenomegaly in newborns: This is because when the red blood cells of the newborn are destroyed by immune antibodies and hemolyzed, the extra-bone marrow hematopoietic tissues such as the liver and spleen come to compensate, causing varying degrees of hepatosplenomegaly.

5. Neonatal bilirubin encephalopathy: This is due to the immature development of the baby's brain and an imperfect blood-brain barrier. Excessive free bilirubin enters the brain, combines with the basal ganglia of the cranial nerves, and causes damage to the central nervous system. The baby may experience fever, drowsiness, weak sucking reflex, etc., and the mortality rate is high.

How to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn?

1. It is best for couples who are planning to get pregnant to have a prenatal blood type screening test. If the wife has type O blood and the husband does not, the wife's blood type antibody test should be done. If the antibody value is not high, then the pregnancy can be normal. If the antibody value reaches the threshold that may cause a hemolytic reaction in the fetus, appropriate treatment should be taken according to the doctor's advice to lower the threshold before becoming pregnant again.

2. If you are already pregnant. The pregnant woman's blood type is O type, so she should strengthen prenatal checkups (such as regular B-ultrasounds, etc.) during pregnancy. Keep abreast of the development of the fetus.

3. For infants who may have hemolytic disease, hemolytic disease screening should be carried out promptly after birth to detect whether they have neonatal hemolytic disease in time, so as to detect and treat it early and prevent it in time.

Through the above explanation, I believe you have a more detailed understanding of the disease of neonatal hemolytic disease, its hazards and prevention. As a medical worker, I sincerely hope that every pregnant mother can bring her baby into this world healthy, so that they can feel the splendor of life and the colorful life.