7 miscarriages, Haryana woman’s 8th child saved by blood from Japan

Aksheev Thakur

New Delhi, June 18

A woman from Haryana, who had suffered seven miscarriages, finally got the opportunity to embrace motherhood, after her child received a rare blood type transported from Japan.

She was on the verge of losing her eighth baby, when she found support at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMMS), Delhi, where doctors managed to save the child suffering from foetal anaemia.

Rare incompatibility disorder

• The woman was suffering from a rare disorder, in which the mother and baby’s red blood cells are incompatible and consequently cause anaemia in the foetus.
• Its most commonly known cause is the RhD antigen (D+ or D-). In severe cases of foetal anaemia, RhD-blood is transfused to the baby inside the mother’s womb through the umbilical cord.
• However, in this case, the mother was negative for the Rh-17 antigen, which is extremely rare to find.

Dr Neena Malhotra, a gynaecologist at AIIMS-Delhi, said the woman, who was referred from the Lady Harding Hospital in Haryana, was suffering from a rare disorder, in which the mother and baby’s red blood cells (RBCs) are incompatible and consequently cause anaemia in the foetus.

Dr Malhotra explained: “The most commonly known incompatibility is due to the RhD antigen (D+ or D-). In severe cases of foetal anaemia, RhD-blood is transfused to the baby inside the mother’s womb through the umbilical cord. However, in this case, the mother was negative for the Rh-17 antigen, which is extremely rare to find.”

“Due to the rare condition, babies in her womb would suffer from RBC incompatibility and develop anaemia. When she came to AIIMS during her seventh pregnancy, she had already lost her child inside her womb, but the blood group was identified by the blood bank team under Dr Hem Chandra Pandey,” Dr Malhotra added.

The Japanese Red Cross had confirmed the availability of the rare blood. AIIMS had to take clearance from the Japanese embassy and several bureaucratic formalities were completed, before the blood could be imported from Japan.

With the available blood, the foetus received six blood transfusions inside the mother’s womb. The pregnancy continued till eight months when the baby was delivered by a Caesarean section.

This is the first such case in India and eighth in the world. This case stands out in many respects, highlighting the significance of a timely diagnosis. The extremely rare condition was finally diagnosed by the transfusion medicine team after she was referred from multiple places, as the former institutes failed to determine her condition.