ABO incompatibility

[barley2]

Did anyone else have problems with this with their first baby? My dd had moderate jaundice due to our incompatible O and A blood groups and we were kept in for 5 days with phototherepy. I'm 30 weeks preg. with nm. 2 and even though the hospital seem relaxed about it I'm worried about what will happen this time as I know that babies can be affected in some way during the pregnancy. I know it's not as severe as problems caused by being rhesus negative but the doctors I've spoken to seem a bit in the dark about it.

Hi barley, I'm in exactly the same boat! I'm currently pregnant with dc3 and dd (my last pregnancy) had a severe problem with ABO. My first pregnancy was with a different partner, hence no ABO. DD (who is a very healthy, active and exceptionally happy 5 year old) was seriously ill with jaundice as the ABO wasn't picked up initially. It was terribly traumatic for us and we were told by the paediatric team that any subsequent children would have an 80%+ chance of also suffering ABO.

However, (and this is the important bit!) we were told not to worry at all because the baby would be monitored immediately after birth and a remedy - ie. phototherapy - would be put into place immediately if necessary. It seems that the danger isn't ABO, per se, but is the consequent jaundice.

I had my booking in appt with the mw a couple of weeks ago and we discussed this. She said that I could have a consultant-led preg if I wanted but that it wasn't at all necessary. A cord sample would be taken at birth and the baby would be monitored. The ONLY difference it has made is that I had considered a home birth and the mw agreed that it would be a possibility but we discussed the fact that the baby would then possibly need to be re-admitted into hospital which might prove a little traumatic for us. Therefore, we've agreed on a hospital water birth as before and then a few nights' stay on the ward.

I hope this helps! Seems that my mw and hospital aren't remotely bothered about it either which I've taken to be a good sign that there's nothing for me to worry about either!