PORT Macquarie woman Robyn Whitehead will use National Donor Week to share her powerful story.
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Rydges Port Macquarie will host a Red Cross Blood Service event on Friday, September 7, from 6pm where 82 locals will be thanked for reaching 50 donations in the past 12 months.
Mrs Whitehead donates plasma every fortnight, and told of how she contracted rhesus D hemolytic disease of the newborn (RhD HDN) while pregnant with her now 22 year old son Henry
"He has to be monitored closely during the pregnancy and was induced early," she said.
"He had to have four blood transfusions at birth to survive. We got to the last transfusion and the paediatrician said that was the last chance.
"It's a hideous disease because it's the mother essentially killing her own baby. It was really hard to know that was going on in your body involuntarily."
The disease typically occurs only in some second or subsequent pregnancies of Rh negative women where the fetus's father is Rh positive, leading to a Rh+ pregnancy.
During birth, the mother may be exposed to the infant's blood, and this causes the development of antibodies, which may affect the health of subsequent Rh+ pregnancies.
Rh disease is generally preventable by treating the mother during pregnancy or soon after delivery with an intramuscular injection of anti-RhD immunoglobulin (Rho(D) immune globulin).
It's a hideous disease because it's the mother essentially killing her own baby.
- Robyn Whitehead
"An Australian scientist actually came up with the way to prevent it by putting a small amount of the antibodies into the mother," Robyn explained.
"Now, I have the antibodies and there are only about 150 donors in Australia with them.
"Thankfully the disease is basically eradicated in Australia but it is still important that people are aware that it does exist."
If the anti-RhD injection did not exist, one in six Australian births would be affected by the disease.
The antibodies save about 40,000 babies a year and has protected more than two million babies and counting.
"We wanted to give a message to everyone who is expecting to know your blood type and know the preventatives and about the injection," she said.=
"They need to understand it is still real despite it almost being eradicated. It can still happen and there needs to be more awareness about it.
"This is a great week, being national donor week, to know about that and to also come and donate. I
"t's not easy for some people, I don't like needles, but it is worth doing if not every two weeks but every three months or so. It's a good health check for yourself as well."