[Rhesus prophylaxis--history and current status]

The varying symptoms of rhesus incompatibility were recognized and described approximately sixty years ago. Jörg Schneider, then at the Freiburg University Hospital in Germany, had been the very first investigator to perform rhesus prophylaxis in pregnant women. The exact date of this achievement is August 9, 1963. One year later, Schneider could report on nine women, who-following delivery of a rhesus-positive child-did not develop rhesus antibodies during a subsequent pregnancy with a rhesus-positive fetus. Since the late sixties, rhesus prophylaxis has been an integral part of prenatal care in Germany. In the meantime, the role of ante-partum prophylaxis has also been established. Since the introduction of post-partum rhesus prophylaxis, fetal morbidity and mortality has been reduced by 90 percent.