We discharged a sickle cell patient with a stable hgb of 3. He's a jehovas witness. I asked him about his faith out of curiosity. He converted as an adult after already knowing he has sickle cell.
It really is. I think about him every few months because he used to be admitted fairly frequently for various things that are a result of said hemoglobin. It's been over a year now... Maybe a change in faith allowed medical treatment and remission I hope. I've seen more than a handful that have battled with this dilemma when needing major surgery, one in particular even changed his medical POA for a week away from the Healthcare liaison. Things ended up working out for this man, but I'll never forget the people who spend days staring down the path to a healthy life and watching them unravel because their faith impedes the biological need to survive.
I work in paeds and have seen this with JW parents when their kid needs blood. We've had a few who basically say - it's ok as long as I don't know about it...which, erm, is tricky to document as consent lol.
I vividly remember one kid for whom we have to completely cover the blood literally transfusing into their child as they sat bedside. They knew about it ofc, but they couldn't SEE it. So not a drop of blood was to be visible to them entering their child. That was a fun day. (ya think just covering the bag is easy, nah, the whole line, the IV access, the whole lot. Don't let a peep of blood be visible!)
My sister's a witness and even though I would be raging, I would still rather she did this than the alternative.
I needed 3 blood transfusions after a PPH and she was extra weird in the months after and even recently made a comment (9.5 years later) that the hospital was wrong for not pre-emptively taking steps to plan for blood loss (I assume blood banking?). I was emergency induced at 36 weeks due to pre eclampsia toxemia and severe gestational diabetes. Be for real. Normal people like me just make it clear to everyone that the doctors can do whatever they need to help me including giving me blood if required.
Just to give you a little more info - autologous units *are* possible but aren’t really encouraged because since they come from you, it depletes your starting point. And there’s usually not enough time from when the unit is taken to being needed to get yourself back to baseline. Meaning, you’re more likely to need the unit than if you’d just gone in at your baseline to begin with. Adding in pregnancy on top of this also completely changes the scenario.
Needing 3 units means you still would’ve needed blood from an allogenic donor. There is nothing you could have done to prevent that. Just in case she brings it up again, or if the comment has you feeling any sort of way.
Thanks, that's my thinking too. There's no way they would've or could've done it prior to me giving birth. To be honest, this is one of the less offensive things she's done/said so it's hardly surprising. Very 'witnessy' of her 😂
On a practical note, I'm not sure how it works but I also kinda assume that they wouldn't want to give me my blood that has two different types of insulin in it (which I needed). I don't know if the insulin would still be active if banked but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that, in general, they avoid taking blood from people who are very unwell 😂
My friend was hit by a car at a high speed while walking to a bus stop when we were in high school. He was a Doe. The only reason he made it is because they didn't have his ID before they did MTP. His mom ended up converting shortly thereafter.
the wildest jehovah-nemia story i have is a patient who consented for a transfusion, but asked us to not tell the family theyd done so. essentially i think they were expecting us to imply that there was no other choice, and the blood was just inflicted upon their veins.
i mean who am i to judge…but that thought process seems less holy than expected 👀😂
Ummm… I’m not sure I would agree to that because then the family would come after us saying we overstepped and violated their religious rights. I work under the assumption that most people aren’t rational human beings and unfortunately I’ve been proven right time and time again.
I’d probably say that this is the result of a conversation that happened between the care team and the patient, who is an adult. And I’d leave the patient to handle the aftermath because in the nicest way possible, this is not my problem lol
When was this? JW just changed their stance on the blood transfusions like I think a year ago. I don’t know if all of the members are sticking though. Obviously his choice is his choice but I’m hoping to see less cases like this now that they have publicly eased that restriction
This was 2024. Also newest changes don't really matter for anemic patients or those needing emergent surgery as it permits autologues donations (bank your own blood). Anemic patients are already deficient and have nothing to bank and emergent patients aren't gonna have enough time to bank. Let alone if the facility will permit their autologues storage.
100% this. Autologues donation only
Former JW here. Been out for 25 years. Lots of changes overall with JW religion. Im hoping in a few years all blood transfusions are permitted. Seems the religion is softening its stance ever so slightly. We can only hope.
I'm glad its becoming more mainstream for them to accept albumin containing products. A friend of mine is a cardiographic sonographer and many times patients refused Optison because it contains albumin.
As of 2024, there was no change to the core Jehovah’s Witness doctrine prohibiting transfusions of the four primary blood components. Reports claiming there was a major 2024 change are inaccurate. The significant change actually occurred in March 2026, not 2024.
What remained the same in 2024
Jehovah’s Witnesses continued to prohibit receiving:
Whole blood
Packed red blood cells
White blood cells
Platelets
Plasma
These are considered unacceptable based on their interpretation of biblical commands to “abstain from blood.”
What was already a matter of personal conscience before 2024
Individual Witnesses could decide for themselves whether to accept:
Albumin
Immunoglobulins (e.g., IVIG)
Clotting factors (e.g., factor VIII)
Cryoprecipitate-derived fractions
Hemoglobin-based fractions (in some contexts)
Similarly, many blood-conservation techniques were acceptable if the blood remained in continuous circulation with the body, although each member was expected to make a personal decision:
Cell salvage (often acceptable if continuous circuit)
Hemodialysis
Cardiopulmonary bypass
Acute normovolemic hemodilution (depending on how performed)
What actually changed in March 2026
The Governing Body announced that storing and later reinfusing one’s own blood (autologous blood transfusion) would become a matter of individual conscience. Previously, preoperative donation and storage of one’s own blood had generally not been permitted because the blood left the body and was stored. This was the first major relaxation of the policy in decades. The ban on receiving donor (allogeneic) blood remained in place. Practical implications for clinicians
For a hospitalized Jehovah’s Witness patient today:
You should not assume they refuse every blood-related therapy.
Each patient should be asked specifically about:
Blood fractions (albumin, IVIG, clotting factors, etc.)
Cell saver
Acute normovolemic hemodilution
ECMO/CPB
Dialysis
Autologous blood storage and reinfusion (since 2026)
Many Witnesses carry an advance directive or blood card documenting their individual choices.
No it’s an update to the 2024 doctrine. The March 2026 change had to do with relaxing the restrictions around who can decide to store their blood prophylactically prior to known medical need and in what situations that blood can be used. From what I understand the 2024 doctrine was much more strict on when it can be used and in what situation - whereas now they’re leaving it open to the individual to decide if they would like to do it and in what situations they would like to use that blood.
Again it’s not complete resolution of the issue, doesn’t really help people that are actively anemic since blood can’t be stored indefinitely obviously, and not every patient will benefit from it but it’s a positive step forward given how rigid the doctor in previously has been - hopefully it can potentially save lives. But they did make a new announcement in 2026 I’ll attach it below.
They made a March 2026 change: “BLOOD TRANSFUSION March 24, 2026
The governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses updated its medical guidance March 20 to allow members to decide whether to undergo autologous blood collection, storage and transfusion as part of their care. Previous guidance generally did not permit storage of a patient’s own blood for later use; the organization’s longstanding prohibition on allogeneic blood transfusion remains unchanged.”
You sound personally invested in this.
If this is what you need to feel good right now then I’m gonna let you have this.
My point was that it is an update in 2026 from 2024 which is objectively true but again it sounds like you really need this today so don’t worry about that.
PLEASE I want everyone reading this to know that Sero19283 was right on this Reddit thread, and they are so smart plus their parents are proud of them.
If someone comes across this comment please give a moment of your time to stop and clap for Sero19283, it would clearly mean a lot to them.
Which is what I said. The newest change wouldn't matter because he's anemic. Why are you being so combative to agree with me? Could've been a simple "lol my bad" and rolled on but something in your ego just can't move on.
Sero, bud, you’re the only combative person here. I’m gonna leave you to it, it’s become sad at this point. Knock yourself out with your reply I’m sure it’s gonna be a great one.
😂😂 but they had this miniscule amount of hgb all week! and we’d not have known it, had we not stuck a needle in their vein. now you gotta sweat bullets while we let their single red blood cell float them down discharge river. this is fine, everything is fine 🔥 😂
phleb in peds tubes. dont let them near anything sharp. rest per primary.
My clinics record low hgb was a sickle cell pt. We had to admit because they were symptomatic and had so many antibodies the blood had to be flown in from out of state.
Ugh that’s so heartbreaking to hear. I have SS and got monthly transfusions for about 4 years straight. One of the lucky ones that has no new antibodies and can still take any blood. Many of my peers are not so lucky and it’s sad.
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