PolkMoms.com

"ABO incompatibility is a reaction of the immune system that occurs if two different and not compatible blood types are mixed together."

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001306.htm

I am glad this was brought up. I wanted to add a couple more links to this thread because I too had issues with this. The first link is an article that tells of one woman's account and experience of this with a doctor's reply. The second link is more jargon based but has good information. Moms to be need to be most concerned by this incompatibility when you yourself are O blood and the baby is A or B (the article says AB also, but it is impossible for a mother with O blood to have a baby that is AB). The 2nd link also mentions when baby is B (and the mother O) usually there are worse symptoms than when the baby is A. I personally am O blood, Ethan and Ryan are both A, and the hospital (uuuurgh) didn’t type Lillian so I am unsure of her type.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_abo_incmplty.htm


http://www.drhull.com/EncyMaster/A/ABO_incompatibility.html

I agree that this is not regularly discussed for some reason, and I actually spoke with nurses in the baby ward that claimed it was news to them. Moms, you have to know all you can yourself and not expect medical professionals to tell you all possibilities. I wish a site like this would have been available when I was expecting my children.

With any type of surgery I would have direct blood donation assigned to you. I haven’t discussed my #3 pregnancy yet (will get to that). I had my first and only c-section with Lillian. It was scheduled so I knew ahead and had my father and Aunt donate a pint of blood a piece for me. When the blood bank called me back to tell me my aunt and dad's antibodies matched my own, they said, "This guy that donated for you has to be your brother or your dad. He matched you perfect!" My dad and I have this running joke that my parents brought home the wrong baby from the hospital. When I told him about our perfect match, he said," Well honey, I guess I have to start claiming you".

I didn’t end up needing the blood, but it was nice to know if I needed it, it was there and it was from people I knew. It isn’t a complicated procedure for direct blood assignment but you do have to have a written consent from your doctor. My ob faxed a signed consent to bloodnet with no problems.