Two cases of severe postpartum anaemia in Jehovah's witnesses.
Two cases of severe postpartum anaemia are presented in Jehovah's witnesses who refused blood transfusion. Despite haemoglobin concentrations of less than 3 g/dl both women survived. General management was directed to maximizing oxygen delivery and minimizing oxygen consumption. The use of an emulsified perfluorocarbon was organized for one of the cases, but was not administered because a snow storm prevented its delivery to the hospital. In the other case, recombinant human erythropoietin was used to encourage red cell production. The recovery of haemoglobin concentration in the two cases is compared.
Department of Anaesthetics, Birmingham Maternity Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre, Birmingham, UK.
S R
SR
Rasanayagam
G M
GM
Cooper