The blood in all of us is essentially the same but for the presence and location of certain antigens. And it’s these antigens in foreign blood that can cause your immune system to launch an antibody attack, commonly referred to as an immune response.
The result of an attack is blood clumping, which can be life threatening. To prevent your body from attacking transfused blood, blood typing is performed and matches are made according to blood types. For blood transfusion purposes, the same blood type or certain combinations of blood types are compatible.
Besides A and B antigens, there is a third antigen referred to as Rh factor, which not everyone has. When this antigen is present your blood typing said to positive (+) and when it’s not then your negative (-).
Blood transfusions and conception are two instances for which your blood type can really make a health preserving difference, for either you or your unborn child. As such, blood typing is performed to determine which one of these eight possibilities you are:
- B Rh-positive
- A Rh-positive
- O Rh-positive
- B Rh-negative
- A Rh-negative
- O Rh-negative
- AB Rh-positive
- AB Rh-negative
O positive is the most common and is often referred to as the universal blood type because they can give blood to almost everybody. And those with AB positive blood are called universal recipients because they can get blood from just about anybody.
In regards to pregnancy, Rh incompatibility is a health concern for causing hemolytic disease, a type of fetal anemia that can result in miscarriage. This blood typing problem occurs when an Rh-negative woman is carrying an Rh-positive fetus. This situation can only occur if the child’s father is Rh-positive. As such, both blood types of the parents should be determined because blood type compatibility might become an issue during pregnancy.