Kendra Stanley
For most people, celebrating the birth of their first child is a truly lifechanging event. But for Kendra Stanley, the birth of her daughter Addison was even more momentous, because of the complications she survived thanks to blood donors.
In September of 2019, Kendra and her husband were admitted to St. Elizabeth’s in Edgewood to deliver their first child. Her labor was long and exhausting—“I had been in labor for over 24 hours and had pushed for almost 3 hours when she finally was born,” she recalls.
Kendra and her husband were thrilled to meet their newborn daughter, but their moments meeting Addison were short-lived. Kendra’s drawn-out labor ended with a serious medical emergency when her placenta struggled to detach from the uterine wall.
“Very quickly after her birth, things went downhill,” she says. “The placenta was still attached to my uterus and was not easily detaching. When it finally detached, I started hemorrhaging. Pieces of the placenta were still stuck in my body, and had to quickly be taken out along with multiple blood clots. This resulted in a major loss of blood.”
Postpartum hemorrhaging affects between 1 to 5 percent of women, and the availability of blood products is critical when it comes to treatment. The excessive blood loss can cause a severe drop in the mother's blood pressure and may lead to shock and death if not caught and treated quickly.
Kendra’s doctors had to work fast to remove the placental remains, stem the rapid bleeding, and ultimately save her life. Blood donors are one of the only reasons Kendra was able to survive and bond with her daughter.
“I received a lifesaving double blood transfusion later that night,” Kendra says. “I felt like an entirely new person after the transfusion and I am so grateful that it is something I was able to receive when I desperately needed it. I was able to go home shortly after that and enjoy my baby girl all thanks to blood donations!”