What weight is required for donating blood?

[quietgal]

Hi, I went to donate my blood but was rejected.

To my surprise, Red Cross said that I'm underweight but I'm 46kg. They said that the minimum weight is 50kg.

Well, ....

http://www.nuhkids.com/waysToGive/bloodDonor/waysToGive_beABloodDonor.htm

So, if you are a healthy male or female, aged between 16* to 60 years and weighing at least 45 kg, please help save a life through blood donation.

So who's in the right, Red Cross or NUH?

[Shan Xue]

I too thought the min is 45 kg for whole blood donation, and 50 kg for apheresis donation. Unless they have revised the criteria without updating their website.

I have forwarded your queries to Red Cross.

Please wait for their reply

[xyxinyi]

I just went for apheresis donation today. Was quite surprised being accepted as previously I was rejected for whole blood donation due to small vein.

I thought min. weight for apheresis donation is 52kg?? I told the nurses I'm 51kg and they accepted. Maybe they short of o+ blood products. Hee.

I asked the nurse and she said whole blood is 45kg, apheresis 50kg.

Btw, they only took my plasma. Anyone knows why? I thought supposed to take platelets too? I went in at 5pm. Time constraint??

[Shan Xue]

have you been pumping iron to make your veins bigger? :D

the minimum weight for apheresis donation is 50 kg.



To ensure your health and well-being, you are encouraged to come forward and make a blood donation only if you:


Are between 16 and 60 years old;
Weigh at least 45 kg;
Have a haemoglobin level of at least 12.5 g/dl;
Are in generally good health;
Have not had any symptoms of infection for at least 1 week e.g. sore throat, cough, runny nose, diarrhea; and
Have not had a fever in the last 3 weeks.
In addition to the above requirements, apheresis donors should also:


Weigh more than 50 kg;
Be at least 18 years old;
Cannot be more than 50 years old (for new apheresis donors only);
Have donated blood at least once before; and
Have arm veins of a suitable size.http://www.hsa.gov.sg/publish/hsaportal/en/health_services/blood_donation/can_i_donate/who_can_donate.html (http://www.hsa.gov.sg/publish/hsaportal/en/health_services/blood_donation/can_i_donate/who_can_donate.html)


There could be few possible reasons why they took only plasma:

1. Time constraint. Plasma donation is faster.
2. Your blood group is AB+. See
http://www.hsa.gov.sg/publish/hsaportal/en/health_services/blood_donation/what_to_donate/whats_needed_now.html (http://www.hsa.gov.sg/publish/hsaportal/en/health_services/blood_donation/what_to_donate/whats_needed_now.html)
3. You have been to dengue countries recently or frequntly exposed to dengue prone places such as forest.
4. Plasma urgently required due to surge in demand for burnt patients.

[xyxinyi]

I've been carrying a 8.4kg baby almost daily. I guess that somehow 'trained' my veins since previously I was rejected due to too slim veins.

I think it was due to time constraints as by the time I finished plasma, it was nearly 6pm.

How do I increase my haemoglobin level? Mine was 12.8 as told by the nurse. Is haemoglobin level related to iron? Cos she told me normally donors will proceed to the apheresis suite after seeing the doctor. But she advised me to check my blood first. Why?

[xyxinyi]

Haiz, BloodBank just called me. To inform that it's better I stick to whole blood donation as my arm bruised. =X Guess my vein is still not big enough. The nurse said that she noticed my vein turned blue-black the moment she inserted the needle.

Well, i shall go back again for whole blood donation 4 weeks later then. =/

[Shan Xue]

How do I increase my haemoglobin level? Mine was 12.8 as told by the nurse. Is haemoglobin level related to iron? Cos she told me normally donors will proceed to the apheresis suite after seeing the doctor. But she advised me to check my blood first. Why?

Make sure you have enough iron and vitamin B12. Hemoglobin is very similar to the chlorophyll in plants. So you can drink vegetable juice especially wheatgrass, green vegetable juice and beet root. See this thread
http://forums.donorweb.org/showthread.php?t=62 (http://forums.donorweb.org/showthread.php?t=62)
Hemoglobin level is related to iron. Not enough iron can cause low hemoglobin. However, iron alone is not enough. You need other vitamins such as vitamin B12, folate. Avoid taking coffee around meal time as will affect iron absorption.

12.8 is good enough for females. The nurse asked you to go for a blood test just to make sure your hemoglobin level is above 12.5. Most of the apheresis donors don't have to do the hemoglobin test as most of them are males and males typically have a hemoglobin level way above the minimum required 12.5. Even though most apheresis donors don't have to do a hemoglobin test prior to their donations, blood bank still collect sample to find out their hemoglobin level later on. If it falls close to 12.5, they will request the apheresis donor to do a hemeglobin test next time before they donate. My sister donates platelets and sometimes the nurse will ask her to go for the hemoglobin test before donation. So it is pretty normal especially for female apheresis donors.

[Shan Xue]

Haiz, BloodBank just called me. To inform that it's better I stick to whole blood donation as my arm bruised. =X Guess my vein is still not big enough. The nurse said that she noticed my vein turned blue-black the moment she inserted the needle.

Well, i shall go back again for whole blood donation 4 weeks later then. =/

my personal opinion is that bruises are no big deal unless it hurts badly. i have bruises before and most are painless.
some threads on bruising

http://forums.donorweb.org/showthread.php?t=35 (http://forums.donorweb.org/showthread.php?t=35)
http://forums.donorweb.org/showthread.php?t=53 (http://forums.donorweb.org/showthread.php?t=53)

Females have lower hemoglobin than males. On the other hand, they have higher platelet count than males. So actually they are more suitable to do apheresis donations if their veins allowed them to do so. if you go back to donating whole blood, it is possible that your hemoglobin level will drop below 12.5 such that you can't donate either whole blood or apheresis in future, since your hemoglobin is just mariginally above 12.5. That's what happened to my sister. My sister hemoglobin level is marginally above 12.5. After she donated whole blood, she was frequently rejected from donations as her hemoglobin hover around 12.5. Now one week before donation, she will start to take the iron tablets and avoid taking coffee with/around meals. Now she only do apheresis donations, which will not reduce her hemoglobin level. Her hemoglobin level is now around 13 and have no problems doing apheresis donations. She can finish her platelet donations with 5 cycles while I need 8 cycles on the same type of machine, because of her higher platelet count.

[xyxinyi]

Thanks Shan Xue for all the info! B12 is harder for me to get since I'm a vegetarian but will try my best to find sources from plant based items. =))

I'll try to take more iron riched food for now then but so far no rejection due to low iron.

I don't mind the bruises at all - with or without pain. What's a little pain if what I'm doing can help to save someone? The nurse said rather firmly that it'll be good for me to stick to whole blood donations in the future. Maybe I appear to be slim due to my height..Shall carry on with my mission to gain more more more weight. Will try apheresis again maybe when I gain more weight. =X

[laine]

Hi quietgal,

Thank you for your enquiry and Sorry to hear of your confused experience. There are no changes to the weight criteria for blood donation.

To ensure your health and well-being, you are encouraged to come forward and make a blood donation only if you:


Weigh at least 45 kg (Whole Blood Donation)


However, apheresis donors should:

Weigh more than 50 kg (Donation of blood components - plasma or platelets)

There are some situation (for example, Thalassemia minor, G6PD or visited malaria endemic area) where donors can only donate when their weight is at least 50kg. May I request that you give our Donor Manager, Elaine a call at Tel: 62200183, with your particulars, she will help find out what happened on the day of your visit at the Bloodbank.

Thanks again and hear from you soon.