Blood Donor Eligibility Criteria

You may not donate if you’ve injected drugs not prescribed by a doctor or if you’ve engaged in sex for money or drugs. You must be feeling well and in good health to donate. Females tend to have lower blood volume levels than males, which accounts for the gender-based differences in donation guidelines. For the above types of donations, you must weigh at least 110 pounds. The blood you donate will be tested to determine your blood type.

Both whole blood donation and apheresis are available, which gives you options as far as the length and frequency of your donations. The Mayo Clinic Blood Donor Program doesn’t test blood donors for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Authorization to Release Protected Health Information. This form is required one time between the ages of 16 and 17 and one time after the donor reaches age 18. In America and Canada, if you miscarried or terminated your pregnancy, you must wait 6 weeks before you are eligible to donate.

For this reason, iron levels are assessed at blood donation collection sites to ensure that the donor is not anemic, explains Miller. "Women with low iron levels would be ineligible to donate." A doctor or another healthcare provider can advise each woman about the right time to resume donating blood, and they can also help facilitate cord donation.

Can I Donate Blood While Breastfeeding?

The best match for the recipient is to have 12 out of s12antigen match. (This is known as a zero mismatch.) It is possible for all 12 markers to match, even with an unrelated deceased donor organ, if the patient has a very common HLA type. Platelet donations will require a needle to be placed in both arms to accomplish this.

What are the prerequisites for donating blood?

"Anemia is common after birth and enough time needs to have passed such that the mom’s anemia is resolved," says Dr. Rankins. According to the American Red Cross, 30 people per minute need blood in the United States. You will also have a scar from the donor operation- the size and location of the scar will depend on the type of operation you have. After donation you should be able to go back to a regular, healthy lifestyle.