children s health issues
Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn
ABO incompatibility
Sometimes other blood group incompatibilities may lead to a similar (but milder) hemolytic disease. For example, if the mother has blood type O and the fetus has blood type A or B, then the mother’s body produces anti-A or anti-B antibodies that can cross the placenta in large amounts, attach to fetal red blood cells, and cause their breakdown (hemolysis), leading to mild anemia and hyperbilirubinemia. This type of incompatibility is called ABO incompatibility. ABO incompatibility usually leads to less severe anemia than Rh incompatibility and, unlike Rh incompatibility, it usually gets less severe with each subsequent pregnancy. 