Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications Commons^™

Why Doesn’T A Pregnant Woman Reject Her Fetus, Lisa Merry

3690: A Journal of First-Year Student Research Writing

Overview: Recurrent Pregnancy loss (RPL) occurs when a woman has three or more consecutive miscarriages; this phenomenon happens in about 1-3% of women. Why some women reject their unborn fetus and others carry theirs to term is still unclear. There are four main theories that exist regarding why some women reject their fetus and others do not: the maternal immune system might not be capable of responding to fetal antigens due to mechanisms that induce tolerance in responding maternal cells; a “barrier” may from between mother and fetus, preventing access of maternal immune cell to fetal antigens; fetal cells may …