View report page

many previously unexplained tragedies in transfusions and certain diseases
in new-born children have been explained and can now largely be
avoided.
In the population of the world so far tested, approximately 85 per
cent. of people have this Rhesus factor and they are called Rhesus Positive.
The other 15 per cent. are without this factor and are Rhesus Negative.
Every pregnant woman should have her blood tested at the beginning
of pregnancy to see if this factor is present. If she is Rhesus Negative,
her husband must then be tested himself. It is often difficult for a
husband to appreciate why he should be tested and, indeed, some of
them refuse to be done. It cannot be stressed too strongly that such
an attitude on the part of the husband is very unfair to his wife, his
unborn child and the people who are going to be responsible for looking
after his wife.
The Rhesus Positive mother, while very important because she is
pregnant, is medically not so important as the Rhesus Negative mother,
and every Rhesus Negative mother should be delivered in hospital. The
reasons for this statement will appear later in the text. Any pregnant
woman, as a result of some accident in labour, may need a blood
transfusion, and a Rhesus Negative person must only be transfused
with Rhesus Negative blood, whereas a Rhesus Positive person can be
transfused with either. Rhesus Negative blood is much easier to obtain
in hospital, and that is one reason why the Rhesus Negative mother
should be in hospital for delivery.
The other reason applies to the baby. If the husband is Rhesus
Negative, there is no fear of anything untoward happening to the baby.
If the husband is Rhesus Positive, in a certain number of cases the baby
is Rhesus Positive; but not in every case. Of these Rhesus Negative
mothers with Rhesus Positive babies, a certain number develop substances
in their blood which we call Antibodies. This nearly always occurs with
a second or subsequent pregnancy; hardly ever with a first. If these
Antibodies are formed, they pass back into the baby and cause a disease
of the blood. It is, therefore, very important that every Rhesus Negative
mother with a Rhesus Positive husband should have regular blood tests
during pregnancy, so that as soon as Antibodies appear, if they do,
treatment can be commenced to help the baby, and also, when the baby
is born, all preparations can be ready to transfuse it if it should require it.
The earlier stage a transfusion is given, the better is the baby's chance
Page 25