Objective: To understand the antepartum attitudes toward blood product transfusion among members of the Jehovah's Witness faith.
Methods: We performed a retrospective study using antenatal consultation notes of Jehovah's Witness patients from the bloodless medicine program at a regional tertiary care maternity hospital over a 4-year period to determine their blood transfusion preferences.
Results: Eighty-seven consultations were performed. The median age of women undergoing consultation was 27 years (range 14-39 years), and most were either African American (48/87 [55.2%]; 95% confidence interval [CI] 44.8-65.7) or Caucasian (35/87 [40.2%]; 95% CI 29.9-50.5). The mean±standard deviation antenatal hemoglobin concentration was 11.9±1.4 g/dL (n=57). Although all 87 women stated that they would not accept conventional blood products such as red blood cells, plasma, or platelets, 55 of 87 (63.2%; 95% CI 53.1-73.3) stated that they would accept all of the recombinant or fractionated blood products including cryoprecipitate. Stated acceptance of fractionated or recombinant products did not vary by parity, race, or age. A further 23 of 87 (26.4%; 95% CI 17.1-35.7) women stated they would accept some but not all of the fractionated or recombinant blood products, whereas 9 of 87 (10.3%; 95% CI 3.9-16.7) stated they would not accept any of these products.
Conclusion: In the antenatal period, Jehovah's Witness women have variable attitudes toward receipt of blood products. A discussion with each patient is essential to understand whether and which blood products may be used when indicated.