A Study of Normal and Pathologic Variants III. Hematologic Findings and Erythrocyte Survival in Normal Infants

THIS PAPER is concerned with the clinical and hematologic appraisal of unselected infants who were products of homospecific and heterospecific pregnancies. The isoantibody patterns in the cord bloods of these infants and in the sera of their mothers have been described in the two preceding sections. The report is divided into a clinical and an experimental study. The first part contains observations on the physical findings, blood picture, and bilirubin levels of the newborn infants. It is followed by a comparative study of the behavior of transfused donor erythrocytes, compatible and incompatible with the maternal blood group, in healthy babies resulting from homospecific and heterospecific pregnancies. A. CLINICAL AND HEMATOLOGIC DATA Methods.—The cord bloods were collected by members of the obstetrical service in the delivery room by allowing blood from the placenta immediately after ligation of the umbilical cord to drip by gravity into serological test tubes containing dried