HAS Celebrates World Blood Donor Day.
The focus of this year’s World Blood Donor Day campaign, “Safe Blood for Saving Mothers,” spotlights the fact that a significant cause of high maternal mortality or long-term disability is severe bleeding during and after childbirth. As the World Health Organization points out, this is a serious concern globally – and it’s an issue we are keenly aware of at HAS.
Fortunately, we are equipped to address this problem, and I want to share a story to show you what this meant to one young mother.
At 25, Mari Clide was pregnant for the first time – with twins. One night, she was experiencing an excruciating headache, one of the symptoms of preeclampsia. Knowing that her headache could indicate this potentially deadly complication, Mari Clide traveled for an hour on rough roads to reach the only hospital for miles around that could help her: HAS.
Once she arrived at HAS, our nurses monitored her blood pressure closely. On her second day in the hospital, she went into spontaneous labor. After laboring for many hours, the HAS team caring for Mari Clide decided to complete the delivery via Cesarean section. The C-section was successful and uncomplicated, and was finished with sutures specifically designed for this procedure, made available by a generous donation from Global Links.
However, a few hours later, Mari Clide was experiencing such heavy vaginal bleeding that she needed a blood transfusion, which she received from the blood bank at HAS. Mari Clide stayed in the hospital for several days after her surgery to ensure that her blood pressure was well controlled, and that she didn’t need additional transfusions. She remained healthy, and her babies, Roodensly and Roodensky, were born safely and without health complications.
“Everything was so good here, I really appreciate the help that I received,” she said.
Mari Clide and her twins have returned home to start their life together — a happy ending that would not have been possible without the HAS blood bank.
The HAS blood bank is one of just 14 facilities in all of Haiti that collects and distributes safe blood.
Please join us in the effort to raise awareness of the importance of timely access to safe blood and blood products. More than 70 lives are saved every month at HAS thanks to blood transfusions, including the lives of many women like Mari Clide with high-risk pregnancies.
-Herriot Sannon, MD