Here is why you should know your spouse's Rhesus status

Mrs. Linet Omuya, is a mother of three who spent Sh 9,000 for a safe delivery of her third child at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga referral hospital.

Experts established that she was at great risk of losing her baby due to her Rhesus factor’s incompatibility with that of her baby.

She is Rhesus negative while her foetus had inherited the father’s Rhesus-positive blood protein.

Dr. Bernard Odhong, a paediatrician at Maseno University Hospital says Rhesus incompatibility endangers the baby’s life and is fatal.

“When in this state of Rhesus incompatibility, the mother’s blood produces antibodies which fight and kill fetal red blood cells at a very high rate than they can be replaced. This is called haemolytic anaemia and leads to serious illness and may lead to the death of a newborn or the fetus,” said Dr. Odhong.

Dr. Odhong says traditional and unskilled birth attendants have no means of telling the sex of unborn babies and have no such knowledge on Rhesus factor but thrive on guesswork and could easily engage in the manual disorientation of the foetus.

He says a Rhesus negative mother can be injected with Rhesus immunoglobulin during pregnancy or within 72 hours after delivery which is made from donated blood and prevents the mother’s blood from producing antibodies likely to harm the fetus.

Mrs. Omuya received the injection immediately after delivering her son and was charged sh 7,000 and paid another Sh2, 000 for maternity services at the public facility.

Dr. Odhong says the injection prevents Rhesus related complications in future pregnancies saying mothers still trusting TBAs were endangering their lives and those of their babies.

He further explains that childbearing mothers ought to get professional healthcare providers to screen for the presence of Rhesus in their blood in the first trimester of expectancy to avoid preventable infant deaths likely to arise from Rhesus incompatibilities.