My Time as a Blood Banker

Prior to starting the MSBS program, I was a medical lab technologist in the blood bank, so I prepared blood products for patients, from neonates to the elderly. During my time there, one of the major diagnoses we kept a constant eye on was placenta previa. Placenta previa (PP) is a condition where the placenta is implanted in the lower part of the uterus causing partial or complete blockage of the cervix (Li, Yang, Liu, & Qiao, 2018). This can lead to massive hemorrhaging during birth which could lead to death (Li et al., 2018). My job was to provide the necessary blood products if a massive bleed was to occur (also known as a massive blood transfusion).

PP occurs in about five per 1000 pregnancies (Cresswell, Ronsman, Calver, & Filippi, 2013). Risk factors include damage to the uterine tissue (i.e. previous cesarean delivery), multiple births, and history of placenta previa (Fan et al., 2017; Cresswell et al., 2013). As mentioned before, one complication of PP is massive hemorrhaging, but it can also lead to infection, shock, and hysterectomy (Cresswell et al., 2013; Li et al., 2018).

Thankfully, medical advances have helped us better detect and prepare for delivery in PP mothers. Detection is through ultrasonography, but magnetic resonance imaging can be used to help differentiate between PP and another pregnancy complication known as placenta accrete (when the placenta implants abnormally through the myometrium) (Chen et al., 2018). The usual birth plan is a cesarean delivery with specific medical devices to help limit hemorrhaging. However, in case the mother is still hemorrhaging, the blood bank will always be around to help!

References

Chen, X., Shan, R., Zhao, L., Song, Q., Zuo, C., Zhang, X., … Limperopoulos, C. (2018). Invasive placenta previa: Placental bulge with distorted uterine outline and uterine serosal hypervascularity at 1.5T MRI - useful features for differentiating placenta percreta from placenta accreta. European Radiology, 28(2), 708–717. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1007/s00330-017-4980-z

Cresswell, J. A., Ronsmans, C., Calvert, C., & Filippi, V. (2013). Prevalence of placenta praevia by world region: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/tmi.12100.

Fan, D., Xia, Q., Liu, L., Wu, S., Tian, G., Wang, W., … Liu, Z. (2017). The Incidence of Postpartum Hemorrhage in Pregnant Women with Placenta Previa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Plos One, 12(1), e0170194. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1371/journal.pone.0170194

Li, N., Yang, T., Liu, C., & Qiao, C. (2018). Feasibility of Infrarenal Abdominal Aorta Balloon Occlusion in Pernicious Placenta Previa Coexisting with Placenta Accrete. Biomed Research International, 2018, 4596189. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1155/2018/4596189