Will Difference in Parents Blood Group affect the health of BABY? - Effects of Parents Blood Group on Baby - Erythroblastosis Fetalis

Blood group of parents determines the blood group of the baby.

Following data reveal the possibility that which blood group baby gonna get on the basis of the parent's blood group.

Father	Mother	Baby
O	O	O
A	A	A or O
B	B	B or O
A	O	A or O
B	O	B or O
A	B	A or B or AB or O
AB	AB	A or B or AB

Parent Blood Group won't affect the health of the fetus. 

But:

What that affect the baby's health is the Rh Factor.

In addition to A, B antigens on red blood cells there is another antigen called Rh factor. Some people have Rh factors on their RBCs and are designated as Rh positive and the suffix positive is added to the blood group of the person for example if a person has A blood group and he also has Rh factor then his blood group will be written as A  positive. If he hasn't Rh factor on his RBCs His blood group will be written as A negative. The same formula applies to all other blood groups. 

Now;

There is fifty percent chance that fetus will get an Rh-positive blood group. 

Now the problem arises if an Rh-negative mother conceives an Rh positive child. It happens when an Rh-negative woman marries to an Rh positive man. 

First pregnancy won't affect the health of the baby but during the delivery of the first Rh-positive child blood of fetus crosses the placenta and intermixes with the blood of the mother. Mother is Rh-negative, her red blood cells don't have Rh antigen on them. Now mother body will produce antibodies against the Rh antigen of the fetal RBCs and these antibodies will destroy the fetal Red blood cells. The Rh antibodies will remain in the blood of the mother. 

Now if next time mother conceives an Rh-positive child, Then there is a problem because although fetal red blood cells can't cross placenta but the mother's Rh antibodies can. These Rh antibodies will cross the placenta and react with the fetal Rh antigen present of the RBCs and will cause the destruction of fetal red blood cells. after birth, such fetus won't survive unless his blood is replaced by normal. The fetus has a pale appearance with enlarged liver and spleen. There is an abnormally high concentration of immature RBCs in blood. This condition is called Erythroblastosis Fetalis.

Treatment:

Fetal blood must be replaced by blood transfusion.

An anti-Rh injection is given to mother just before delivery which prevents the immune reaction and prevents the formation of antibodies against the fetal Rh antigen.