Maria Portelli woke up more than three hours after she was scheduled to give birth to her first daughter, but there was only an operating theatre nurse with her, and no baby.

Maria Portelli and her two children.

Her maternal instinct kicking in, the 30-year-old immediately thought something was wrong with her daughter, but the hospital staff reassured her she had given birth to a healthy girl.

It emerged that she was the one who had required urgent medical intervention – she had lost so much blood after birth that blood had to be transferred urgently to Gozo by helicopter.

Ms Portelli said she never ima­gined she would need blood, especially considering that her pregnancy was a regular one.

She had been asked to turn up on a Monday for a C-section, when the Gozo General Hospital’s blood reserves are well-equipped. But not even this was enough for her postpartum hemorrhage, and more blood had to be flown in from Malta.

“I continued to need blood the following day, and as I started to come back to my senses I thanked God that I had been born at a time when blood transfusion was a regular procedure.

“My family knows someone who a couple of generations ago had gone through a similar experience and lost so much blood that she died.”

It has been six years since the ordeal, and Ms Portelli gave birth without any similar issues for the second time in 2016.

There are quite a few in­stances when a mother could require blood either before or after birth.

Astrid Zarb, charge midwife at Obstetrics Ward 2, said these included situations when a pregnant mother has a blood disorder, such as iron or folate deficiency.

This could see the mother’s haemoglobin dropping and the medical staff would want the mother to have a good level of haemoglobin before delivery as it could drop further because of bleeding. A blood transfusion could do the trick.

 An urgent blood transfusion could also be required when a pregnant mother suffers ante­partum bleeding. Such situa­tions could put both the mother and baby in great danger of losing their life, and a bag or two of blood could save both lives, she added.

Mothers can also bleed heavily postpartum, immediately after delivery or even up to six weeks later. Losing a lot of blood could be a serious threat to the woman’s life, and again, a blood transfusion could be a life saver, she noted.

Sometimes it is newborns who need a blood transfusion. Babies are very fragile, especially if born prematurely or have a medical problem.  

“I can recall several cases of mothers with massive bleeding both pre- and post-delivery. Thanks to the prompt action of all the team and the availability of blood, these mothers and their babies were saved.

“The message we need to deliver is that every drop of blood is essential and it does not take much for a healthy adult to donate blood.”

The blood transfusion unit has a daily demand of 50 bags, often struggling to keep up.

At the moment there is a huge demand, especially for the O and A+ type.

Those who wish to give blood and have returned from abroad over the past four weeks should phone 8007 4313 to check if they are eligible. Donors should take their identity card, driving licence or Maltese passport with them.

To keep updated, look up National Blood Transfusion Service – Malta on Facebook.