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 Blood types are inherited and represent contributions from both parents. A total of 32 human blood group systems are now recognized by theInternational Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT).^[2] The two most important ones are ABO and the RhD antigen; they determine someone's blood type (A, B, AB and O, with + and - denoting RhD status).

Many pregnant women carry a fetus with a blood type different from their own, and the mother can form antibodiesagainst fetal RBCs. Sometimes these maternal antibodies are IgG, a small immunoglobulin, which can cross the placenta and cause hemolysis of fetal RBCs, which in turn can lead to hemolytic disease of the newborn called erythroblastosis fetalis, an illness of low fetal blood counts that ranges from mild to severe. Sometimes this is lethal for the fetus; in these cases it is called hydrops fetalis.^[3]

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