Michael is now one of those who are standing up for a noble act of donating blood to save lives of mothers and babies after realising that voluntary blood donation is not only promoting personal health but also an opportunity to help a pregnant woman or her baby survive.
Michael Omeka is a regular, voluntary blood donor and an intern with MamaYe. Below is his experience of donating his blood to save the lives of pregnant women and their newborns.“Wow, it’s already ninety days since I last gave blood to our National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) to help save lives of pregnant women and their babies! It’s time to gear up my feet and give up some blood that my cells, tissues, organs and systems won't necessarily require.I am no preacher, but I feel the necessity to demystify certain superstitions associated with donating blood, in this part of the world, to someone who really needs it as an essential lifeline.Firstly, you should understand that your red blood cells have an average life span of one hundred and twenty (120) days or four months after which the organ called the spleen, located just behind your stomach cavity, on the left side of your trunk, breaks down the matured or worn out red blood cells.The products of hemoglobin breakdown are bilirubin and heme. After this breakdown, the oxygen-carrying pigment of the red blood cells, called hemoglobin is converted to heme and bilirubin. The bilirubin is then subsequently stored in your gall bladder (that greenish bag-like stuff that's terribly bitter when you open a chicken and prepare it for the pot...yes! That's it) as bile. The bile is excreted with your feces, giving it the brownish color...(for those that cared to look back after they're done with their private deal). Also, it should interest you to know that your bone marrow produces about 200 billion new red blood cells every day, so when you donate blood to save a life, you're actually giving away cells that your body will replace anyway.But after you've donated a pint, which is like the size of orobo coke (50cl bottle of Coca-Cola coke), you’re still left with about 4.5 liters in your system, which is more than enough for all biochemical and physiological activities.So why do you need all that blood sef, abi you be vampire?Still, the blood you donated is replaced before three months when you’ll be deemed ‘fit’ for a next appointment for another donation, which I literally translate as another opportunity to save another life! Nonetheless, your discretion is prime here, you must be healthy enough before you undertake this noble gesture; a blind cannot lead another blind (pardon the platitude).And did I forget to mention? First time I gave blood, after screening, I was told to go check for traces of viral hepatitis C (a liver condition).Well, I went to the hospital just to confound the devil and sure enough my blood was clean...and I still got preventive measures against the disease from the doctor I was referred to by NBTS... So you see, you really stand nothing to lose but on the contrary, you stand to gain a whole lot!I mean, I always feel fantastically fabulous when I give blood to save a dying mother or her baby…’every time is a good time to do a good thing’, one of my friends will always say. PS: It’s totally voluntary, but the sensitisation is still necessary to help allay whatever fear you may have preconceived.So, have you made up your mind yet to donate blood today? Some pregnant mothers and their newborns need your blood to survive. This is one thing you can do to save somebody’s life. If you do it today, you will be able to say you’ve stood up for something!If you have questions, go to the contact tab and send a mail to MamaYe.Cheers.”