2nd Trimester
betsbirdy
member
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Blood banking this time around
betsbirdy
member
I have talked to my doc about blood banking. I'm 0- and have not taken the covid vaccine. She looked at me like I was insane. But my blood will match my babies and myself. (Universal donor) so if we don't need it I'm sure someone will.
I got home that very day and was sent a story from a colleague about a baby who had a heart issue and was not likely to need a blood transfusion but the parents asked a non covid vaccinated donor to bank their blood, just in case.
Baby did need a transfusion. The hospital bypassed their request. Gave them someone else's blood. The baby had a clot from his knee to his nose within 20 min and passed.
Never thought this would be something to think of pre delivery. Last time I delivered was at the peak of lockdown insanity. And I refused testing as to not be separated from my child. They had not had someone refuse but were more than OK with it. You are your own and your LO advocate always remember that whilst in the hospital.
Anyway I was just wondering if anyone else had thought of this for this birthing season?
I was amazed how many people have asked for my blood post delivery when I asked about this on other social media sites. Seems it's very common in pregnant couples now so I thought I'd ask on here too.
Re: Blood banking this time around
It is not unheard of for people to refuse blood transfusions for personal belief reasons, particularly for Jehovah's Witnesses. Some jW's do find it acceptable to use their own blood, so if you feel strongly about using your own blood, you may want to explore how JW's navigate the system to make that happen. There's probably information online, and you may need to connect with the hospital chaplain and/or patient advocate to determine how to make it work in your hospital, if they allow that; if not, you can search for a hospital that might. You can ultimately refuse a transfusion for yourself, though you may need an advance directive on file if you feel strongly enough that you rather them let you die than give you someone else's blood. Otherwise they may end up obligated to give you blood to save your life.
For your child, though, you may not be able to refuse blood (medical neglect), and you may not be able to require that they use your blood. It's one thing to say you can only accept your own blood, but it's different to say your child can accept someone else's blood, but only a certain someone (you) or blood only from certain donors (not vaccinated against one particular disease). So on that front, I think it's unlikely you'll be able to find any professional willing to go against scientific knowledge to cater to your desires.