Your Health: Jan. 17, 2000

GOOD NEWS

A SOUND APPROACH In more than 14,000 pregnancies each year, mother and fetus have incompatible blood types. In these cases, the mother's immune system may attack the fetus' red blood cells, causing potentially fatal anemia in the unborn baby. Now doctors report a painless way to screen for the problem. A special Doppler ultrasound placed over a mother's belly was shown to be 100% effective in detecting moderate to severe fetal anemia. That sure beats today's invasive screening procedures like cordocentesis, in which a blood sample is taken from the umbilical cord, with an attendant risk of miscarriage.

VITAMIN...

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