I'm not a mom, but my mom has the rh factor in her blood, so I know a little bit about it. I just found this on babycenter.com - this will explain it far better than I ever could
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Question: Could someone please explain to me what Rh-negative means and what it will do to my unborn baby?
Answer: During your first prenatal exam, you'll be given a routine blood test. The test is used to determine your blood type (A, B, AB, or O) and your Rh status (positive or negative). Your blood is also screened for the presence of Rh antibodies. Your Rh status describes whether or not you have a protein on the surface of red blood cells. If you don't have the Rh factor, you're considered Rh-negative; if you have it, you're Rh-positive. About 85 percent of people are Rh-positive, though it varies by race. About 90 to 95 percent of African Americans are Rh-positive. Among Asians, the figure is 98 to 99 percent.
If an Rh-negative mom is carrying an Rh-positive baby (the child having inherited that characteristic from an Rh-positive dad), there's the potential for a problem to arise. If some of that infant's red blood cells leak into the maternal circulation, Mom's immune system may react to the Rh component on the surface of these cells as if it were a foreign invader. Mom will become 'sensitized'; that means her body will produce antibodies against the Rh factor that can cross the placenta and attach to the baby's Rh-positive red blood cells. This will cause the red cells to break down, producing an anemia in the baby and possibly jaundice. This is called Rh disease.
During the pregnancy of an Rh-negative woman, tests are done to see if this process has occurred. An injection of Rh immunoglobulin or RhoGam (preformed antibodies), is routinely given late in pregnancy and after delivery or after a miscarriage or an abortion to an Rh-negative mom who has not yet been sensitized. These preformed antibodies attach to any fetal cells that have crept into her circulation, 'hiding' and destroying those invaders before an immune response is triggered in the mom.
The regular use of Rh-immune globulin, although not 100 percent effective, has had a major impact on Rh disease in newborns. Pediatricians-in-training now rarely even see this condition, which was a very frequent and serious problem just a few years ago. Rh disease used to cause problems ranging from severe newborn jaundice and the need for blood transfusions to preterm miscarriages and stillbirths. Thanks to new treatments, complications from being Rh-negative and carrying an Rh-positive baby pose little threat.
So the answer is: You need to have regular and early care during your pregnancies and your physicians all need to know your blood type and do the appropriate tests during your pregnancy (often termed an antibody screen or indirect Coombs test). You should receive RhoGam late in pregnancy and after delivery and after any miscarriages or abortions.
Your child's physician will do additional tests on the baby's blood collected from the umbilical cord (called cord blood) at the time of delivery to check for any evidence of the cells breaking down or of anemia. If you have an Rh-negative child, none of that will have to be done after the birth, however.
The near eradication of Rh disease has been one of the triumphs of modern obstetrical care. You and your unborn child will be the beneficiaries of these advances.
