Now live - updated maternity resources

Iron deficiency is the most common single nutrient deficiency globally - and the leading cause of anaemia. Women are disproportionately affected, with symptoms such as fatigue, low mood, and poor concentration often appearing well before anaemia is diagnosed.

Iron deficiency during pregnancy is widespread in Australia and internationally, with potential impacts on both maternal health and wellbeing and child development.

Earlier this year, the Haematology in Obstetrics and Women’s Health Collaborative - a multidisciplinary team of haematologists, obstetricians, gynaecologists, midwives, anaesthetists, and researchers from Australia and New Zealand - published a consensus statement on iron optimisation in pregnancy.

In response, Lifeblood has updated our maternity resources to support health professionals caring for pregnant women.

This includes our guide to assist with screening and treating iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy along with our handout to help women with correct oral iron choices and information on how to take oral iron.

Fatigue in focus

In a recent opinion piece in 'Bloodlines', the magazine for members of the British Blood Transfusion Society (BBTS), Danny Gaskin, a biomedical scientist and Lead Specialist with NHS Blood and Transplant Blood Stocks Management Scheme (BSMS), discussed his concerns regarding out-of-hours working, staff working alone and the effects of fatigue on staff in transfusion laboratories. After huge member interest, this thought-provoking article was made available, free for everyone to read.

Danny was prompted to write his article after attending a presentation at SHOT 25 (the annual symposium for the UK’s Serious Hazards of Transfusion [SHOT] haemovigilance scheme) on the impact of fatigue on patient safety. In another presentation, the issue was similarly highlighted when it was shown that more than 80% of transfusion-related incidents reported to SHOT involved preventable errors, with fatigue, night shifts and working alone as significant contributory factors in many of these. Common issues included mismatched blood components, handling errors, and patient identification mistakes. Unfortunately, in a small number of cases, errors have a serious outcome, such as major morbidity or even death.

Supporting PBM pathways and implementation

The Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management (SABM) is getting set to celebrate the 17th Annual SABM PBM Awareness Week (3-7 November). The following are three key PBM resources that may be of interest to assist with updating health service pathways, in conjunction with local expert input.

• Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) Guideline for the Management of Anaemia in the Perioperative Pathway (2025)

The updated 2025 CPOC guideline contains recommendations for patients of all ages undergoing surgery and for healthcare professionals in both emergency and elective surgical settings and across specialities. The guideline aims to ensure the patient is at the centre of the whole process, and everyone involved in their care carries out their individual responsibilities to minimise the risk from anaemia. 

• British Society for Haematology (BSH) Guideline update on the Identification and management of preoperative anaemia in adults (2024)

This updated 2024 guideline is comprised of 17 recommendations based on an updated literature search. It covers preoperative screening, diagnosis and treatment of iron deficient and non-iron deficient anaemia.

Example frameworks for anaemia pathways and testing algorithms are provided in Appendix 1, which can be adapted for use locally with input from both primary and secondary care providers. An online clinical audit template is also available.

• World Health Organization (WHO) Guidance on implementing patient blood management to improve global blood health status (2024)

This practical guidance on PBM has been released to address the global burden of iron deficiency and anaemia, blood loss, and coagulopathy with bleeding. It provides a structured pathway for complex and comprehensive system implementation. PBM toolkits tailored for different populations and resource levels are included.

Lifeblood involved in the discovery of a new blood antigen

Published in the journal 'Transfusion' is an article by Lopez, Buhariwala and colleagues reporting on a novel low-prevalence antigen in the Kell blood group system antithetical to KHIZ (KEL40).

The International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) Working Party on Red Cell Immunogenetics and Blood Group Terminology assigned KEL41 for this low-prevalence antigen named KHOZ: K (KEL system), H (first letter of patient's surname), and OZ (the colloquial name for Australia).

Patient consent and shared decision-making for blood transfusion

The recent release of updated UK guidelines from SaBTO on patient consent and shared decision-making for blood transfusion serve to reinforce the importance of continuing efforts in Australia to enhance the provision of information to patients about blood transfusion and PBM practices, ensure an effective process for obtaining patients' consent and support shared decision-making.

Informed consent for transfusion within Australian health services must reflect current local, jurisdictional and national consent requirements.

Upcoming events and webinars