Long Island mom says blood donations saved her life after suffering postpartum hemorrhages
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, Long Island (WABC) -- As Mother's Day approaches, one new mom is sharing her story about a frightening condition she never knew about - postpartum maternal hemorrhage.
It can be deadly, but she is speaking out because of what saved her life: blood donors. And with blood donations down significantly, donating blood is more important than ever.
In just two short years, motherhood has brought Emily Miethner so much.
Her joy and gratitude is ever present as she shares the story of what happened to her - not when she gave birth to her beautiful boy, Noah, but weeks later - twice.
"I was sent home, clean bill of health and when the hemorrhages happened, they just suddenly happened out of nowhere and with no symptoms," Miethner said.
And then they happened again six weeks after giving birth.
"The blood donors are what kept me alive that day," Miethner said.
Miethner received 23 units of blood between her two ER visits, with 19 of them at her second visit.
"Which is about the equivalent of replacing my entire body of blood twice," she said. "Anytime I was conscious and I heard the blood donor number, I said, 'Thank you donor,' out loud."
Now she continues to show gratitude by sharing her story to highlight the importance of blood donation, particularly for new moms.
At the New York Blood Center in Rockville Centre, they say summertime is always the slowest for donations. They say they typically get 15-20 people a day, but ideally they would like to see closer to 40.
They say about 60% of the population can donate blood, but only 3% do.
Beyond that, Miethner who is now pregnant with baby number two is also making a difference.
She returned to the blood center on the one-year anniversary of her hospitalization, which she now calls her "alive day," and she donated blood.
She plans to do it every year as she's able from this year on.
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