GUELPH -- Laine Greenidge was six weeks from her due date when Ontario went into lockdown.
Due to concerns about having her baby at the hospital during a pandemic, the Guelph family opted for a home birth.
After a normal labour and delivery, Greenidge and her husband Jerald welcomed a healthy baby boy they named Jakobe. After the birth, their midwife quickly realized something wasn't right.
“When they went to deliver the placenta, which comes after the baby,” said Greenidge. “That's kind of when everything went wrong and I suffered from a uterine inversion which resulted in a very scary situation.”
An ambulance was called, but due to significant blood loss she lost consciousness.
“It was a surreal experience to be honest," said her husband Jerald. “In the moment we just didn't know."
Once she arrived at the hospital, it was determined to she would need five blood transfusions. According to her doctors, that is the equivalent of the average blood volume for one person.
It wasn't until two or three weeks after she had given birth that the family realized just how much blood she lost, and how crucial those transfusions were.
“If I did not received blood I would not have survived,” said Greenidge.
According to Gina Leyva with Canadian Blood Services, five units of blood is five different people taking an hour out of their time to donate.
"I think that is a really important perspective for people to understand," she said.
Greenidge said it was a slow recovery process, but she is now back to feeling 100 per cent.
”Emergencies are still happening every day," she said. "Even from something as joyful and routine as child birth, people still need blood.”
More details on how to donate can be found on Canadian Blood Services' website blood.ca.
