Blood Groups

[Ric.ror]

I have rhesus negative blood. How rare is that and do only women have negative blood groups

[jake-the-peg]

No men can have it too. It's about 15% of the caucasian population, 6% African and 10% asian population.

The thing is if you have a child and the father is rhesus positive there can be complications. .

Rhesus is a protein found on the surface of blood cells. If'f you're negative it means you dont have it on yours. If your baby is positive it means that it does have it on it's. Your body may see this blood a s foreign and devlop antibodies which can attack the baby.

But these potential problems are well known and are routinely handled these days and complications from it are very rare.

[Ric.ror]

Yes when I had my children - many years ago - I was given an injection after the first baby. The midwife said it was like mixing a bit of water with a cup of tea - no change as opposed to mixing a bit of tea with a cup of water - hope that makes sense

[gen2]

Maybe it should be made clear that complications may occur during pregnancy only if the MOTHER is Rhesus Negative, and the BABY she is carrying is Rhesus Positive.

A Rh+ father does not necessarily always father Rh+ babies. A heterozygous father has a 50-50 chance of fathering a Rh+ baby with a Rh- mother.

[Titus Aduxas]

See http://www.blood.co.uk/ and click "All about blood"