Every three weeks, Katrina Crume and Aaron Dean Calloway made the nearly two-hour journey from their home near Owensboro, Kentucky, to Louisville so their baby, Phoebe, could receive a lifesaving blood transfusion. What made these transfusions remarkable was Phoebe was still in the womb.
What made them necessary was incompatibility between Katrina’s and Phoebe’s blood.
Phoebe is Rh positive, while Katrina is Rh negative. Known as Rh incompatibility, the condition meant that antibodies in Katrina’s body were attacking her baby’s blood. The incompatibility doesn’t affect the pregnant person, but can cause anemia in the fetus as red blood cells die faster than new ones are created. Jaundice is also a common result.
In the most severe cases, Rh incompatibility can cause liver failure, heart failure and death of the baby.
The condition isn’t common, and the need for fetal transfusions is even rarer. In mild cases no fetal transfusion is necessary, and most recover from a mild case.
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