Maternal Antibodies Guide Newborn Transfusions

For newborns younger than four months, doctors often select blood for transfusions based on compatibility with the mother's blood type rather than the baby's. During the first months of life, infants have not yet developed many of their own blood-group antibodies and instead carry antibodies that crossed the placenta from their mother before birth. Because those maternal antibodies can react to transfused blood, physicians must consider them when choosing compatible donor blood.

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