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By Cosmas Omegoh
Regular miscarriages among women and subsequent childlessness are not the handiwork of witches and wizards operating from the wilds. They are caused by a medical condition in humans called Rhesus factor. So says a medical expert, Dr Uche Marcus. Here, Dr Marcus provides deep insights for youths, would-be couples and some already in marriage.
What is Rhesus factor?
Rhesus factor is protein found on the surface of the blood cells – a leading cause of miscarriages in pregnant women worldwide.
The Rhesus factor is always in front of the blood group. When a man or woman goes to do a check, their Rhesus factor is always either the positive or negative sign in front of their blood group.
If someone’s blood group is A+, B-, O-, O+, B+, and so on, the alphabet is just the group the individual belongs to. The positive or negative sign in front of the group is the Rhesus factor. That is as important as every other thing.
Indeed, if the Rhesus factors of a couple fails to march, it then means that there is trouble.
It is important to know that it is the red blood cells that carry the Rhesus factor. The Rhesus factor itself is genetic; it is right inside every human. As it is said in our local lingo, it is ‘follow come.’ It is unchangeable. That is how God made it in every man and every woman. Every one of us has Rhesus factor; it is a gift from our parents.
Once the Rhesus factor is not compatible, there is always a problem; yet the awareness of this very important phenomenon is very low.
Indeed, if you stop 50 men and ladies on the street and inquire if they know their Rhesus factor, I can bet you that they don’t.
Often, the feeling out there among intending couples is ‘let’s just get married.’ For those who are not aware of the deadly implication of the Rhesus factor, all they care to know is their genotype, blood group, and HIV/AIDS status. All that is very good any way! But information about the Rhesus factor is equally as important. And the only way to find out if one is Rhesus factor positive is to do laboratory check.
Man determines Rhesus factor
Indeed, Rhesus factor occurs in both men and women.
As long as we are humans created by God, there is always Rhesus factor in every one of us. So, genetically, it is present in every human both male and female.
But the man is mainly the determinant of the Rhesus factor of the child in the womb. Once the man is Rhesus factor positive, and the woman is Rhesus factor negative, there is 100 per cent chance that the baby in the womb will be Rhesus factor positive since it is the man that determines the Rhesus factor of a child. That is not by choice; it is because that is how we are made. That is the way we are because every individual is a product of their parents. No one landed here on earth without being a product of the union of a man and woman.
Being Rhesus factor matched
If a man is Rhesus factor negative and his partner – the woman is Rhesus factor negative, that is no problem at all. This is because the two are negatives.
If the man is Rhesus factor positive and his spouse is Rhesus factor positive, both have is no problem because they are compatible.
But where the problem lies is if the man is Rhesus positive, and the woman who is the carrier of the pregnancy is Rhesus negative.
Once the Rhesus factor of the couple is incompatible, that is a big issue – meaning that if the man is positive and the woman is negative. In this case, the Rhesus factors of the two do not match. They are both said to be incompatible because the man is positive while the woman is negative.
But if the man is Rhesus factor negative and his partner is Rhesus factor position, although both appear to be incompatible, yet they don’t have a problem because the man who is the determinant of the Rhesus factor of the baby is negative.
The point being made here is that when a person’s blood group has a positive sign in front of it, the individual is said to be Rhesus factor positive. This is because the Rhesus is the protein found on the surface of the red blood cell. It is inside the blood. Therefore, a person is a carrier of the Rhesus factor if their blood group is positive.
For a couple to give birth to a Rhesus factor negative child, both of them must be Rhesus factor compatible. But if their Rhesus factor doesn’t match, there is a problem.
How to know Rhesus factor
The way to determine whether one is Rhesus factor positive or negative is to visit a quality laboratory to conduct a check.
Lately, an intending couple walked into the clinic. They presented their laboratory results. The lady’s blood group is B-, meaning that she is Rhesus factor negative, while the man’s blood group is O+, meaning that he is Rhesus factor positive.
Now, the challenge there is that the lady is negative while her man is positive. So, both are incompatible and that is a red flag.
But it is wrong to say the couple should not get married. They can. But they must be ready to follow what will come out of the union.
It is like asking a couple who are both AS not to get married. They can, but the product of their union will suffer the outcome the most.
In the case of Rhesus factor incompatibility, it is the woman who suffers more because she is the one who carries the pregnancy. She is the one who will be undergoing the miscarriages that are bound to follow.
Rhesus factor and miscarriages
When a Rhesus factor positive man impregnates a Rhesus factor negative woman, there is bound to be a problem. The moment the man’s blood comes in contact with that of the woman, sensitisation will occur. There will be the release of what we call antibodies in the woman. It is the antibodies that will cause miscarriage in the woman.
Once the antibodies are activated, they will rise to fight the man’s blood because they see the incoming blood cells as enemies that must be destroyed. Naturally they succeed in doing that, thus causing the woman regular miscarriages during pregnancy as long as they remain activated.
Sometimes, some women survive that attack in their first pregnancy and avoid a miscarriage. But from their second pregnancy, they will start suffering it.
But a woman will survive miscarriage in her second pregnancy only if a certain injection is given to her.
Therefore, she must be acutely aware that the issue at hand is not Ogbanje troubling her life or her mother in law or someone in her family giving her a taste of hell. She has to know that it has nothing to do with superstition; that is Medicine at work.
She must be aware that going forward, she will be given a certain injection to prevent the activation of the antibodies in her system.
The injection is called Rhesus immunoglobulin or Rhogen. It is always given to the woman in 28th week of her pregnancy, and 72 hours after her delivery.
The point here is that once a woman is aware of the situation, she has to be very, very careful – whether during an abortion or utopic pregnancy, miscarriage or child birth.
She must take care to ensure that the antibodies in her are not activated – since her man is Rhesus factor positive and she is negative.
The only way to control that is to give her the injection 28 weeks into her pregnancy and 72 hours after her delivery to stop antibodies in her from being activated.
That is why hospitals that know what they are doing will always try to know the Rhesus factor of the males, their medical history and those of their wives.
Now, the injection must be given to stop the antibodies from being produced in every pregnancy. And that has to happen as long as the lady continues to get pregnant.
Another trouble
But if a woman has sexual relations with a man and probably doesn’t know his history and doesn’t know her own history too, and then rushes to procure an abortion, the lady should be prepared for the trouble that is to follow. This is because if the man who impregnated her is Rhesus factor positive, and she is negative, the man’s blood has already come in contact with hers. In that instance, the antibodies in her have already been activated.
The lady in the picture will continue to have miscarriages in subsequent pregnancies not minding whether the man who will impregnate her the second time is Rhesus factor negative. This is because the antibodies in her have already been activated during her first pregnancy.
Therefore, the only way out of the whole trouble is this: if a lady is pregnant and the man responsible is Rhesus factor positive, and she is negative, she must rush to take her injection 28 weeks into the pregnancy and then 72 hours after delivery.
The issue here is that during delivery, there must be blood in contact.
During miscarriages and even abortion, there will always be blood in contact. During utopic pregnancy, there must be blood in contact.
If, therefore, a Rhesus negative woman procures abortion for a Rhesus factor positive man, there is blood contact. If she survives the abortion, her problem has just started because in subsequent pregnancies, she is bound to have miscarriages and might remain childless for life. That is what Rhesus factor incompatibility can do.
What antibodies do in the body
Once the antibodies are sensitised, they don’t want to see any foreign body come into the woman’s system. So they see an incoming baby as a threat or a foreign body and proceed to kill it. That is their work. So they keep killing every incoming baby, forcing the lady to continue to have miscarriages.
Sadly, the lady involved might not know what is going on; she might end up thinking that one demonic operation is active in her life and family.
Messages to all
This message is for both young people about to get married and those already into marriage who are probably unaware of their condition.
Those going into marriage should know themselves beyond their HIV/AIDS status, genotype or blood group. They must find out if they are Rhesus factor compatible. Once they are not compatible, they must talk to themselves. If they are prepared to risk it, they must also be ready to comply with what medical experts will tell them.
But the fact is that most people don’t get to know all about this. So that now seems like applying medicine after death.
They must always be ready to journey with medical practitioners and hospitals that understand what have been said because some persons and hospitals don’t know this.
And for those who are already into marriage and perhaps have not had their first baby, they need to carry out a test to know their status and ensure that they attend a hospital where the right things will be done as long as the antibodies have not been activated.
Once the antibodies have been activated, they cannot be deactivated. That becomes permanent. That means that the lady involved might not have a baby for life. Even the injection we give is only effective if the antibodies have not been activated at all.
