Coffs Harbour Mum Died 3 Times During Pregnancy

A Coffs Harbour mum is urging Australians to donate blood after she "died" three times and exhausted the entire blood supply of Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital during the birth of her son.

Sarah Parkes told Triple M of her ordeal where she lost all the blood in her body eight times.

In a high-risk caesarean, the mother of three required 128 bags of blood and exhausted the entire blood supply of the hospital in Newcastle.

Ms Parkes told Moffee on Triple M in Coffs Harbour that surgeons ran saline through her body the first night so her body thought it had blood running through it, while more blood was transported from Sydney.

Knowing her pregnancy was high risk, she never imagined her placenta would attach to her bladder and leave her life at risk.

"When I got cut open, they hit a major blood vessel and I started bleeding to death," she said.

"My placenta is just pumping blood everywhere and they can't close me up because my placenta needs to be removed. I had seven minutes left to live. Without a vascular surgeon being next door, I wouldn't have survived.

Speaking for the first time about the ordeal, her son Billy is now two, and Ms Parkes hopes she can motivate the public to donate blood.

Her two daughters are aware now of everything that happened, at the time, the girls kept asking if their mum was going to wake up.

"My poor little girls had to wait outside ICU every day for a week, asking, 'Is Mum going to wake up today?'

One in three Australians will need blood during their lifetime but only one in 30 currently gives blood.

Make an appointment today, call 13 14 95 or head to www.donateblood.com.au