CPM Certified Professional Midwife

Answer: C - Rh incompatibility

When a mother has Rh - negative blood and the fetus has Rh - positive blood, Rh incompatibility results. The impact of the blood type incompatibility is that the mother’s blood makes antibodies against the fetal blood cells. These anti - Rh antibodies can then cross through the placenta into the bloodstream of the fetus (destroying the circulating red blood cells in the fetus), and causing a fetal build - up of bilirubin. For this reason, the newborn often appears jaundiced. Rh incompatibility effects on the fetus can range from mild to fatal, depending on the level of hemolytic anemia in the fetus.

Fetal causes of intrauterine death and stillbirth include:
1. Chromosomal abnormalities
2. Fetal infections
3. Rh incompatibility