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cardinal030 | 14:02 Thu 20th Mar 2008 | Science
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i am a man with a condition called thalasemia and my partner too is rhesus positive, how can it affect our baby health?
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Eigg
Ooops! ignore that. That answer was meant to be in a different window for a Q&P question
Daffy has linked to a totaly diffierent question. In those links, the partner is Rhesus NEGATIVE. In this one the partner is Rhesus POSITIVE.
This is a website, you'de be much better off asking a qualified doctor, here is what wikipedia says about your condition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassemia#Addit ional_facts
It is the same poster asking a slightly different question,I was just pointing that out.Yesterday the partner was rhesus negative and today she is rhesus positive...............its a miracle! lol
Cardinal030............if you require a genuine answer I think you had better clarify what rhesus status your partner is.
As 4GS said in his reply,you should probably speak to a doctor about it anyway.

gen2.......thanks for trying to make me look foolish,unlike you I had actually read all 3 questions posted by this person and realised they were stating 2 completely opposite "facts".
Sorry, daffy, no intention at all of making you look foolish. I just suspected that you hadn't noticed the questions were different when at a glance, they appeared to be the same.
Here is a summary for you.

Thalassaemia and Rhesus factors are totally unrelated.

Thalassaemia comes in different forms - you do not say what type you have so the following is somewhat simplified. All types are recessive which means the following:
If your partner also has the same type of thalassaemia, then any children will also have it.
If your partner is a carrier of the same type of thalassaemia, then your children may also have it or may become carriers.
If your partner is normal, then your children could be carriers.

Rhesus Factors (totally unconnected to any type of thalassaemia) fall into two main categories called positive and negative.
Rhesus factors do not cause any disease apart from possible complications during pregnancy.
Pregnancy complications can only occur when a Rhesus negative mother carries a rhesus positive foetus. The first pregnancy is usually OK and an injection given to the mother immediately after birth can prevent her building up the antibodies that would attack any susequent Rhesus positive pregnancies.


Hope this helps.
Around 85% of the population is RH+. Rhesus problems occur when the man is Rh+ and the woman is Rh-. This is because the baby has a 50/50 chance of being Rh+ (i.e. different to the mother) and because of a "leaky" placenta the mother may become sensitized to the baby's Rh factor and produce antibodies against it. The first such pregnancy may go OK but subsequent RH+ babies may be attacked by the mother's antibodies and have problems while still in the womb or at the very least may be heavily jaundiced on birth. A prompt blood transfusion usually sorts the problem out and pre-natal testing to establish the potential problem is routine.

In the case of an RH+ mother there's no problem.

Thalassaemia is a genetic condition. It is strongly linked to particular countries and areas particularly where malaria has been a problem historically; e.g. Cypriots have around a 1 in 6 chance of being a "carrier". I'm assuming you mean you have the condition as opposed to being a "carrier" in which case you already know the problems of living with it.. I'm not clear whether your partner is already pregnant or whether you are "just asking". In either case it would be advisable for your partner to have tests for the condition, particularly if you and she share the same ethnic background. I'm sure your GP and/or antenatal clinic will be only too willing to help and advise you.
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Thank you all for such a wonderful response, youve all been very helpful to clarify my anxiety.

however, i will like to appologise for getting my first question wrong, instead of rhesus positive, i wrongly wrote rhesus negative.
thanks all and stay bless.

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