Blood Helps Mom Recover
“The doctors said that if this had happened in a different era, I wouldn’t be here today,” Kristal Roberts recalls. While it’s true that hearing about a woman’s death during childbirth harkens images of covered wagons, it’s also true that even today in America, at least one woman dies every day while giving birth, usually from blood loss. This was nearly the case for Kristal. After flawless deliveries of her two girls, she had a very different experience with son Chance in 2002. “He showed signs of distress,” she says. “So the doctors decided on an emergency caesarian.” They successfully delivered Chance, who was in good health. Kristal was not.

“My uterus wouldn’t contract. Consequently, I lost a lot of blood,” she explains. “I was in surgery for five hours and took 22 units of blood. They ended up giving me a hysterectomy… but they couldn’t stop the bleeding.” At one point, a chaplain talked to her husband about preparing for her death.

The next day, Kristal needed more blood. Hospital staff again consulted with Puget Sound Blood Center physicians, as they had throughout Kristal’s ordeal. “Then they gave me a lot of medicine and finally stopped the bleeding,” she said.

After ten days, she left the hospital. A year later, a grateful Kristal organized a Blood Center mobile drive on Chance’s first birthday. It’s become an annual event.