Hemolytic disease, also known as hemolytic disease of the newborn, is a condition in which the mother’s immune system produces antibodies against the newborn’s red blood cells due to the incompatibility of the mother’s and baby’s blood groups, resulting in symptoms such as jaundice.
1. Overview: When the red blood cells of the fetus pass through the placenta and enter the mother’s blood circulation, the mother’s immune system will produce antibodies against the red blood cells of the fetus.
Maternal antibodies pass through the placenta into the fetal circulation and kill the fetal red blood cells. Commonly, there are ABO blood group incompatibility and Rh blood group incompatibility.
2. Symptoms: pathological jaundice, anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, edema and so on.
(1) Pathological jaundice: yellowing of the skin of the whole body and yellow staining of the whites of the eyes, appearing within 24 hours after birth or the next day.
(2) Anemia: because the child’s red blood cells are destroyed faster than their production capacity, dizziness, fatigue, pallor and other symptoms appear.
(3) Hepatosplenomegaly: Because the red blood cells are destroyed, the extra-marrow hematopoietic system is activated and hepatosplenomegaly occurs.
(4) Edema: fetal edema due to various complications such as hypoxia and anemia.
If the above symptoms occur, it is recommended to consult a doctor in time to check whether it is hemolytic disease, so as to standardize the treatment in time and promote the early recovery of the disease.