Pronunciation: -fi- ' ta-l ə s
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin, fetal erythroblastosis
Date: circa 1934
: a hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn that occurs when the system of an Rh-negative mother produces antibodies to an antigen in the blood of an Rh-positive fetus which cross the placenta and destroy fetal erythrocytes and that is characterized by an increase in circulating erythroblasts and by jaundice