ABO blood incompatibility

[lilsunniegirl]

Hi

**previous PG and MC mentioned**



With this last bub, after a really long time TTC (2005) and 3 mc, our DS was born with ABO Incompatibility.. DH and is B group and I am O+ but our son is B+.. apparently blood crossed the placenta at some point... I had just miscarried the month before.. apparently MC can be a cause for ABO Incompatibility.

He had jaundice straight away, and needed photo-therapy treatment..

The specialist at the hospital said that if we have another baby, that the ABO would be worse and the risk of baby needing blood transfusions and being in special care unit would be high..

I'd love a brother or sister for DS, but after the heartbreaking losses, and now the risks mntioned above.. Im not sure its a good idea... I dont know.. I think maybe am I being selfish by having another one in the future who would be at risk.. the idea of the little bub having blood trans breaks my heart... (please please please dont think I am saying that anyone who had another bub is selfish!! its my own fears i have) Unlike RH factor (i think thats it), theres no prevention or injection

If anyone has had ABO before, can you tell me about your experiences and TTC again or subsequent babies with ABO?

[Peanut28]

Hi. Sorry I don't have a lot of advice to offer, and have not heard that ABO incomp could be worse in subsequent pregnancies. I think you should seek advice of a Dr if you think you might want another baby, perhaps an obst in the first instance? There are some MWs on this forum who might have some advice as well.

I think ABO Incompatibility is pretty common when mum and bub have different blood types. My DD had jaundice due to this and had to go under the lights for 3 days... all the MWs said it was quite common. I am pregnant again and my Dr hasn't mentioned that it could be worse this time.

HTH

[xMaryx]

Considering the difficulties and the risks, how would your partner feel about using donor sperm from an O+ donor if you wanted a second child?

[Special-K]

((hugs)) this is such a difficult thing to get your head around and come to terms with, I don't have the ABO you are talking about but I did develop a rare antibody that gets drastically worse with each pregnany and as well there is no injections or preventative measures other than premature delivery - we nearly lost our DD as a result.

They advised us the best case scenario was a very sick 34 weeker and a lot of neonatal time, but we actually had to get that far first, so for us we decided that the risk was just too high, we already have 5 children (inc our dd) so even though we would have liked 1 more child we made the decision not to risk it. My heart still aches for the one we didnt have but its not as bad as time goes on.

Myself and my DH did discuss what if this had been our first baby, how would we have felt and would we have been happy to settle with the baby we had and we really couldnt come up with an answer. I think we would have looked into it a lot more thoroughly than we did and speak to the specialists that would be involved in our care for the pregnancy and afterwards and see if they could put us in touch with others who have been through it, sadly I have only heard of one person with what I had and shes in the US. Its doable, but at what risk really is the question and because the risk of miscarriage is so high theres a lot of emotional & physical stress (no doubt you already know this) before you even get to the pregrancy.. I'm not 100% sure that I could have emotionally gone through it again..

All the best with your decision its such a hard one...

[Bree84]

Hi,
I have O type blood, DH is a B type and our DD ended up as a B. The MW's in hospital were suprised because we had no issues at all. I did bleed at 6 weeks and was given "that injection" (sorry I can't remember what it is called) because I didn't know DH's blood type off the top of my head.
However, my OB and Dr have both given me the go-ahead to attend conception again when we are ready.
Like PP have mentioned, I'd be talking to your Dr and seeing if you can talk to your OB.
Good Luck!