The course of hemolytic disease of the newborn in Rh incompatibility.

In a material of 300 cases of Rh incompatibility the clinical course of the hemolytic disease of the newborn was analyzed together with the complications of this disease and perinatal mortality. It was found that the intensity of icterus and the number of necessary exchange transfusions depended mainly on the grade of anemia at the time of birth. Prematurity caused no worsening of neonatal icterus but increased the frequency of complications and mortality. The high mortality of children born with severe anemia points to the necessity of hemotherapy of the fetuses before labor.