BMC run hospitals will soon provide free blood on demand to meet the requirements of pregnant ladies at all major hospitals, peripheral hospitals and maternity homes of the city during pregnancy and for a period of 30 days post-pregnancy, according to official sources.

According to sources, BMC will also take the help of state government run blood-on-call service christened as ‘108’ apart from the civic run blood banks and private hospitals to provide blood. BMC will also collaborate with private hospitals to buy blood as per the prescribed prices stipulated in the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) guidelines. This blood will then be provided free of cost to the beneficiaries under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) scheme.

Considering the fact that there has been an increase in the prices of blood and blood components as prescribed for government, charitable and private blood banks, the free blood scheme is a welcome change for the pregnant ladies who hail from poor economic strata of the society.

As per the revised NBTC guidelines for government blood banks, the price of whole blood has been revised at Rs.1050 per unit as against the earlier price of Rs.450 per unit. The price of packed red cells has been revised at Rs.1,050 per unit as against the earlier price of Rs.450 per unit. For charitable and private blood banks also, revised government charges as per NBTC guidelines has been fixed at Rs.1,450 per unit as against the earlier existing price of Rs.850 per unit. The price of packed red cells has also been fixed at Rs.1,450 as against the earlier price of Rs.850 per unit.

Pregnant ladies require blood in conditions like postpartum hemorrhage, abruptio placentae and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). Postpartum hemorrhage is excessive bleeding following the birth of a baby. About 1 per cent to 5 per cent of women have postpartum hemorrhage and it is more likely with a cesarean birth.

Abruptio placentae is defined as the premature separation of the placenta from the uterus. Patients with abruptio placentae, also called placental abruption, typically present with bleeding, uterine contractions, and fetal distress.

DIC is a pathologic disruption of the finely-balanced process of hemostasis. Massive activation of the clotting cascade results in widespread thrombosis, which leads to depletion of platelets and coagulation factors and excessive thrombolysis. The end result is multiorgan failure and hemorrhage.