Dani Tyler happily donates blood every 8 weeks. She considers it a labor of love. Dani knows first-hand how it saves lives.
“If we didn’t have blood supply that night, I would have been dead,” the 33-year-old Denver mother told CBS4 Health Specialist Kathy Walsh.
September is “Donate for Mothers” month in Colorado. Vitalant is collecting blood to honor and support women who have had pregnancy-related complications.
On Nov. 4, 2017, Dani had just delivered her son, Corbin, at Rose Medical Center.
“The placenta would not detach,” she said. “They started calling the code white because I was losing so much blood.”
It was a condition called placenta accreta. Dani had an emergency hysterectomy. She needed 10 units of blood, and 6 units of blood products.
“My doctors saved my life, but they couldn’t have done that without blood products,” Dani said.
Kate McMeekin of Fort Collins understands. Complications in her first pregnancy led to an emergency Cesarean section and son, Jack, arriving 11 weeks early. In her second pregnancy, she developed placenta increta.
“The placenta had grown into the uterine muscle,” she explained. “I found horror stories on the internet about mothers who had passed away from placenta accreta.”
Kate had a C-section, a hysterectomy, and a healthy baby boy. She received donated blood during surgery.
“So people who donate, they’re really just contributing to us and we are very appreciative,” Kate said.
Colorado Accreta Survivors and other organizations are behind the “Donate for Mothers” blood drive underway at Vitalant donation centers and participating hospitals.
The Donate for Mothers blood drive runs through September.
“Because moms deserve more than one day,” said Dani.
If you give blood this month, you’ll get a gift bag with a homemade face mask and information about pregnancy-related complications.
