Word: rh
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...medical specialty is developing. Not yet officially recognized, it is embryatrics: the treatment of the baby still in the womb. Conceived little more than a year ago in Auckland, New Zealand, it is now being practiced on four continents in the hope of saving fetuses endangered by Rh incompatibility. And if its pioneers' hopes are fulfilled, embryatrics will eventually be extended to the treatment and prevention of other handicapping or fatal conditions...
...days of Hippocrates the womb has been regarded as a privileged sanctuary in which the fetus was protected against most kinds of harm. Any disturbance promised a premature birth, and doctors did not dare to attempt direct treatment of the unborn. But the more they learned about anemia from Rh incompatibility and the more certain they became of saving nine babies out of ten who are threatened by this disease, the more frustrated they became about the tenth...
Analyzing the Waters. The first breakthrough was a diagnostic technique involving the insertion of a hypodermic needle through the walls of the mother's abdomen and uterus, into the amniotic sac (bag of waters). Fluid withdrawn through the needle showed the extent to which the baby's Rh-positive cells were being destroyed by antibody from the Rh-negative mother. If the damage was moderate, obstetricians delivered the baby prematurely and gave it transfusions of Rh-negative blood. But if the fluid showed severe damage when the fetus was still too premature for delivery, the obstetrician could only...
...succession of stillbirths and miscarriages. With that information on hand, Dr. Molthan and the obstetricians knew they had an extraordinary problem to cope with when Mrs. Hutson became pregnant again last spring. She might need blood during delivery, and her baby would almost certainly suffer from Rh incompatibility and would probably need blood. And in all the world only seven people, all women with some Negro ancestors, were known to have Shabalala-type blood. Of these, only two or three would match Mrs. Hutson's in all respects...
Blood groups are vastly more complex than the familiar indications on blood donors' wallet cards or G.I.s' dog tags.* No fewer than 24 different grouping systems, with an almost infinite number of possible combinations, are recognized, and there are half a dozen or more variants in the Rh group alone. Mrs. Hutson suffered from two abnormalities: her system would make antibody to destroy blood cells carrying the common Rh factor known as "D," which her husband has, and which her expected baby would have. Worse, she would also make antibody against factors...