Baby's blood type (Is there a doctor in the house?)

"cjra" wrote:

On Mar 26, 11:44 pm, Chookie wrote:
In article .com,

"cjra" wrote:
was A+. I *know* my DH is her father - altho when I question the blood
type the nurse looked at me funny and clearly wondered if she'd
stumbled into a marital issue. I was just panicking that maybe they
hadn't tested correctly in the rush and she was getting the wrong
blood (although, I don' t think she actually had any transfusions). DH
kept saying " I think I'm A+...." then he later realized he wasn't
really sure. He never did get tested though, I'm gathering he must
have B or at least AB.

FYI, I imagine that it's the same in the USA as he blood type is retested
every time blood is transfused/donated, to prevent the mistake you envisaged.

My dad was O negative, and my mom was A+. She was almost given the
wrong blood type (granted this was back in the 40s), and she told me
it was caught just in time. She said she'd started to feel woozy. I
don't know if that is a symptom or not.

My dad's sister Mary died in the hospital the night before an
operation for ulcerative colitis. My aunt (who was a nurse) said that
in her opinion, Mary was given the wrong blood type in a transfusion
and that was what killed her. This was also in the mid 40s.

So yes, blood should be typed each time, just like the pills that you
are prescribed should be checked each time they are given, but in
real life, mistakes happen.

Yes, it is. You won't be given a transfusion unless you're tested. So
though people like to make a point of having there blood type written
somewhere, it's not that big of a deal.

It was actually a funny moment in the midst of a very terrifying time.
The nurse probably thought we were loony joking about paternity at
such a difficult moment, but it helped us relieve the tension...

"cjra" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 26, 11:44 pm, Chookie wrote:
In article .com,

"cjra" wrote:
was A+. I *know* my DH is her father - altho when I question the blood
type the nurse looked at me funny and clearly wondered if she'd
stumbled into a marital issue. I was just panicking that maybe they
hadn't tested correctly in the rush and she was getting the wrong
blood (although, I don' t think she actually had any transfusions). DH
kept saying " I think I'm A+...." then he later realized he wasn't
really sure. He never did get tested though, I'm gathering he must
have B or at least AB.

FYI, I imagine that it's the same in the USA as he blood type is
retested
every time blood is transfused/donated, to prevent the mistake you
envisaged.

Yes, it is. You won't be given a transfusion unless you're tested. So
though people like to make a point of having there blood type written
somewhere, it's not that big of a deal.

Not quite true: In the event of bleeding to death, hospitals will give
patients type O- without testing. Think multiple trauma with a high pulse
rate and extremely low blood pressure (e.g., 0 mm Hg). A blood or death
situation.

Hospitals do a cross match before giving blood when the recipient can wait
at least a few minutes. The cross match makes sure that that there are no
incompatibilites between the donor blood and the intended recipient. This
blood typing is done even when donor and recipient are of the same blood
type because the recipient can have antibodies against minor blood types and
other proteins on red blood cells.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-matching

Jeff


It was actually a funny moment in the midst of a very terrifying time.
The nurse probably thought we were loony joking about paternity at
such a difficult moment, but it helped us relieve the tension...

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
"cjra" wrote:

On Mar 26, 11:44 pm, Chookie wrote:
In article .com,

"cjra" wrote:
was A+. I *know* my DH is her father - altho when I question the blood
type the nurse looked at me funny and clearly wondered if she'd
stumbled into a marital issue. I was just panicking that maybe they
hadn't tested correctly in the rush and she was getting the wrong
blood (although, I don' t think she actually had any transfusions). DH
kept saying " I think I'm A+...." then he later realized he wasn't
really sure. He never did get tested though, I'm gathering he must
have B or at least AB.

FYI, I imagine that it's the same in the USA as he blood type is
retested
every time blood is transfused/donated, to prevent the mistake you
envisaged.

My dad was O negative, and my mom was A+. She was almost given the
wrong blood type (granted this was back in the 40s), and she told me
it was caught just in time. She said she'd started to feel woozy. I
don't know if that is a symptom or not.

My dad's sister Mary died in the hospital the night before an
operation for ulcerative colitis. My aunt (who was a nurse) said that
in her opinion, Mary was given the wrong blood type in a transfusion
and that was what killed her. This was also in the mid 40s.

So yes, blood should be typed each time, just like the pills that you
are prescribed should be checked each time they are given, but in
real life, mistakes happen.

Today, blood is typed and crossed (meaning, they check to make sure that the
particular bag or tube of blood is compatible with the recipient). In fact,
when you give blood, there are tubes sticking out of the bags that are
filled with blood. The tubes are sectioned off into little itty-bitty tubes,
maybe 2 cm long. These tubes are the ones that are actually used for the
cross matching. That way, they keep the rest of the blood isolated during
testing (and reduce the risk of contamination). That's also why they take
tubes of blood during donation, rather than take the tubes out of the bag.

When the blood is delivered to be used, there are procedures in place to
make sure that the right person is getting the blood, too, like the patient
number on the blood is idenitcal to the patient number on the wrist band and
checked by two people. Of course, the procedures vary by hospital.

I would think that there are particular procedures in place in the blood
bank in the hospital to make sure that the blood that it typed and crossed
is comes from the right patient as well as that the cross-matching is done
properly.

Yes, it is. You won't be given a transfusion unless you're tested. So
though people like to make a point of having there blood type written
somewhere, it's not that big of a deal.

It was actually a funny moment in the midst of a very terrifying time.
The nurse probably thought we were loony joking about paternity at
such a difficult moment, but it helped us relieve the tension...

Everyone said that my father looked just like the ice-man when he was born
(they had ice deliveries in those days). I guess that they were thinking he
delievered more than ice. And he did. He delivered coal in the winter. ;-)

Of course, his father (his mother's real husband) did deliver ice and coal
for a living, so it was a joke.

Jeff

O+, CMV (-)