Expectant mum urges Victorians to donate more blood
A PREGNANT Victorian woman is relying on a special blood product to stop her immune system from attacking her unborn baby.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A PREGNANT Victorian woman relying on a special blood product to stop her immune system from attacking her unborn baby is urging Australians to donate blood to ensure hospitals maintain crucial supplies over the Easter break.
Pina Zaccardi, who is 28 weeks pregnant, feared she was losing her baby when she woke up bleeding last Thursday morning.
"I freaked out and I went into a panic," the 35-year-old said.
"I was screaming the house down."
She was taken to the Royal Women's Hospital.
Obstetrician Dr Penny Sheehan said Ms Zaccardi was one of a small number of people who had a rare blood type that meant they lacked a substance called the Rh factor in their blood.
If a pregnant woman is carrying a baby that is RhD-positive and her blood mixes with her baby's blood, it can prompt the woman's immune system to react by treating it like a foreign invader and producing antibodies against it.
Left untreated, babies can become anaemic, develop brain damage and may die.
Dr Sheehan said women at risk are given an anti-D injection, which is made from donor blood with antibodies.
Ms Zaccardi has been given the injection and will have more before her baby is born.
She said she felt blessed that someone with the same rare blood type donated blood, saving her baby.
She wants people to know how their donation can have the greatest of impacts on the smallest of lives.
"It's a hell of a relief - I am having a little girl, a beautiful and perfect little girl."
She said her daughter, who has already been named Mia Josephine Ripa, has a strong heartbeat and now has every chance of an uncomplicated start to life.
"I want people to know that there are people out there with rare blood types who need blood - everyone needs to get out there and give because, you never know, one day you could end up needing it."
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service urgently requires an additional 2000 Victorians to give blood between March 30 and April 5 to ensure they can continue to provide hospitals with blood products, such as platelets, which last only five days.
To give blood, ph: 13 14 95 or donateblood.com.au