06/03/2026
If you’re an unvaccinated mom about to give birth, don’t forget to prep your blood donor ahead of time. You’ve done the work, the research, and you know you don’t want anything with the shot near you or your baby. That includes potential blood products during an emergency transfusion during delivery.
But don’t worry, I’ll at least get you started with the basics.
I would personally recommend reaching out to your midwife, OB, or hospital as soon as possible and politely telling them you’d like to set up directed donor blood for your delivery and asking who you need to contact to get that process started.
That’s exactly what I did. My mom and stepdad were both matches for me, so I asked my midwife and OB:
“Okay, who do they contact to get this set up?”
They gave us the information, I passed it along, and my mom and stepdad handled the blood draws and transfer process with the hospital. For both of my hospital births, the blood draws were done around 1–2 weeks before my due date, although every hospital and policy will look a little different.
Some hospitals are more familiar with directed donor blood than others. One of mine didn’t even really have a system set up for it yet and ended up creating one after we asked about it so they could help other moms in the future.
Another thing I hear all the time is:
“But I don’t know anybody unvaccinated who matches my blood type.”
There are actually organizations that help connect people with directed donors, including Blessed By His Blood. Do your own research of course, but resources do exist and a lot of women simply don’t know that.
I cover all of this in much more detail inside my Home Birth in a Hospital Prep Planner, including blood donor prep, organizations and resources, hospital advocacy, scripts you can use with providers, and so much more to help you walk into birth feeling calm, informed, and prepared instead of trying to figure everything out while already in labor.
Comment HOMEBIRTH and I’ll send it over.
