disease of newborns due to ABO blood type incompatibility. This occurs when a mother's blood type of A, B, or O is not compatible with a blood group of foetus. It develops in a foetus, when the IgG molecules produced by the mother pass through the placenta. Among these antibodies are some which attack the red blood cells in the foetal circulation; the red blood cells are broken down and the foetus can develop reticulocytosis and anaemia. This foetal disease ranges from mild to very severe, and foetal death from heart failure (hydrops fetalis) can occur.

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