Thank you for that, Marvin! Great post!
I myself was very anemic when I went in to give birth to my daughter. I was an active JW at the time, so of course, my OB knew not to give me blood if needed. She almost couldn't stop the bleeding during surgery. In fact, afterward when I was in my room, she came in and sailed into me about the importance of taking my iron pill and that I did indeed almost bleed out. The fact that she couldn't give me blood really upset her, and the most she could do was put me on a double strength iron supplement. In my heart, I would have accepted a transfusion and dealt with the "consequences" later. But, she didn't know that.
A JW family member also was anemic upon going to the hospital to have her child. She too would not stop bleeding after the birth. The doctors begged her to accept a transfusion, yet she refused...even with a newborn baby depending on her. She survived, barely. Her hemoglobin levels were so low, they kept her a lot longer than they usually keep a woman who experiences a normal vaginal delivery. They refused to let her go home until her levels were out of the "should be dead" category. She was still way below what they would have liked when she went home, and it took awhile for her to get back to normal. Could have all been avoided with a quick transfusion. She basically put her life on the line and accepted possible suicide, even with a baby and husband that needed her.
Yesterday, I went to my first OB appointment for this baby. With all the paperwork that needed to be filled out, I was most proud of two things that I circled. First: "Religion: Christian Muslim Jewish Catholic Jehovah's Witness None"... I proudly circled NONE. Second: "Will you, in the event of an emergency, accept blood or blood products in order to save your life? Yes No Maybe". I proudly circled YES.
