Aza’s story of motherhood

2018 was the 50th anniversary of the first Anti-D injection.
This revolutionary drug prevents the Rh-negative mother’s immune system from considering her Rh-positive baby’s blood as a foreign invader and attacking its red blood cells. This immune reaction, known as Rh Disease or Hemolytic Disease of the Fetus and Newborn (HDFN), can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, early post-natal deaths, and brain damage.

Even though the disease was essentially eradicated in the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia, women in other parts of the world don’t always have access to this life-saving drug due to a lack of awareness, funding, or effective medical protocols.

Aza’s story shows how even a mother from Eastern Europe, where awareness, infrastructure, and the availability of Rh sensitization prophylaxis are abundant, can fall through the net of effective health care when living in a country in turmoil.

Aza’s first two pregnancies were not monitored properly. As a mother with Rh-negative blood, she should have been given Anti-D Immunoglobulin to prevent Rh Sensitization and protect later pregnancies. When she moved to Italy and had two other daughters, both suffered health complications that were luckily resolved through treatments. All her children are now healthy.