7 Tips for Giving Blood
This has always been a topic which has been very close to my heart. My grandad did it for years and so did my mum. I've had family members need blood transfusions and without that and the kind people who give up their time to donate something so precious, we wouldn't have had that extra time with those we love. It inspired me to give blood as soon as I turned 17. 6 years later, I'm still doing it and I urge so many other people to do the same, if you can.
If you're reading this, then you've probably made the decision to help save lives and for that I commend you. The NHS are running low on blood stocks at the moment and they rely on people like ourselves to help keep our hospitals stocked with blood of all types. If you've never given blood before, I recommend you click on the links below and have a quick read, just so you're prepared for the process, both before and after you give you blood.
Right, hopefully you've read all of that, or most of it if you're a first time donor. Sorry for all the links, but I'm not a health care professional and so I'd rather you read the advice from the professionals first, before taking anything away from this post. But I hope you find it useful! Let's get into it then :)
Eat Healthy, Iron-Rich Food
You don't necessarily have to do this on the day, but a couple of days before your donation wouldn't hurt. Spinach, red meat, fish and raisins are all good sources of iron. It should make you feel more lively and awake on the run up to your donation. You don't want to feel run-down, lethargic or bloated on the big day.
Eat a Balanced Meal a Couple of Hours Before Your Donation
This is an important one. If your appointment is in the evening or the afternoon, then don't skip any meals. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner (if you've got an evening appointment). It's not an excuse to go all out and binge eat all day, try and be sensible about it. Eat something nutritious but filling. So porridge for breakfast perhaps, a ham salad sandwich on brown bread for lunch, perhaps with a side of cherry tomatoes and a meat and three veg for dinner.
You'll be asked if you've eaten before you donate, if you haven't you could get turned away and asked to come back another time. Not only do you risk getting turned away, you always increase your chances of fainting or light headedness after you donate and no one wants that!
If You Can, Bring Someone With You
This may not be possible and that's ok, this isn't imperative when it comes to giving blood, but if you haven't done it before, it's always a good idea to have some support. You can request for them to sit next to you while you donate, if not, they can wait for you close by and you'll be able to see them very shortly after.
It's also a good idea to have someone with you in case you feel faint, dizzy or light headed after your donation. You'll be asked to stay behind for at least ten minutes after your donation anyway, as a formality. This is the part where you'll get given a tea, coffee or squash and you'll also have a wide selection of cakes and biscuits to choose from. But often, people can feel the effects of blood donation a while after the blood has been given, including myself.
You don't want to be on your own if you start feeling unwell, it's always good to have someone there in case of an emergency, especially if you haven't donated before, as you don't yet know how you'll feel afterwards.
Get a Good Night's Sleep
You want to make sure you do this both the night before your donation and the night afterwards. Rest is key to a successful donation. Often, having nearly a pint of blood removed from your body can make one feel tired and lethargic, unsurprisingly. So it's a good idea to try and minimise the feeling of tiredness, you don't want to experience it more than you have to. Get a full forty winks the night before and also the night after in order to feel fresh and rejuvenated the next day!
DRINK DRINK DRINK
This is just as, if not more, important than eating in the run up to a donation. It's absolutely imperative that you drink at least 500ml of water prior to your donation. You'll most likely be given a drink upon arrival and you must have drunk all of it before you sit down to donate. Ensure you drink plenty throughout the day, stay hydrated and always keep water or squash on you for after you leave the donation centre.
Wear a Top Which has Short Sleeves
This isn't essentials, but it just helps to make the lives of the phlebotomists easier when it comes to extracting the blood from you. It also makes it easier for you, so you aren't faffing around pulling sleeves up and down. It also allows the phlebos to see the site in which you've been injected, just to ensure no complications have occurred immediately after your donation.
Relax
It's not meant to be a stressful or unpleasant experience. If it was, you wouldn't have nearly as many regular donors across the country as we do currently. Enjoy the day, remember that you are doing something fantastic and changing someone's life. Not only that, but it's also helping their families. Be proud of yourself, you're doing a wonderfully selfless thing.
PLEASE NOTE: You cannot donate if you have taken Aspirin 72 hours before your donation, nor can you donate if you've taken Ibuprofen 24 hours before your donation.
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I hope you found this useful! Have you given blood before? Is this your first time donating? If you have anymore tips for giving blood, then leave them in the comment section below. See you soon!
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DISCLAIMER: I am not a health care professional. I have given advice based on my own experiences of giving blood over the past 6 years. I have provided links to professional sites at the start of this post where I highly recommend one reads the information included on those websites before taking on my own advice.
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