A disease most commonly caused by Rh incompatibility, a situation in which the mother’s blood develops antibodies in reaction to the blood of the fetus. The disease occurs when an Rh-negative mother is pregnant with an Rh-positive fetus; the fetus can develop anemia from the loss of red blood cells and jaundice from its body’s inability to process the destroyed cells, all of which may lead to a stillbirth. Giving blocking antibodies to an Rh-negative mother prevents her from developing antibodies to the fetus’s blood in most cases. Blocking antibodies are usually given at the beginning of the third trimester and again within 72 hours of delivery.
Neonatal disease characterized by anemia, jaundice, liver and spleen enlargement, and generalized edema (hydrops fetalis).