THROUGHOUT January NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is running a national campaign about ordinary men becoming extraordinary by donating blood.

NHSBT is aiming for 48 per cent of all new donors to be male during 2020.

Lauren McDonnell, 37, of Burley-in-Wharfedale, received lifesaving blood after a problem pregnancy, which means she is still here to bring up her young daughter.

In 2013 she suffered a heterotopic pregnancy, which is a rare complication which means there is both a normal pregnancy and an ectopic pregnancy, one of which develops outside the womb. As a result she needed surgery and received three units of blood during the operation.

Lauren said: “I had a transfusion during surgery, it saved my life and means I am still here to look after my daughter, Orlaith.

“Giving blood is such a small act that can make a massive difference to someone else’s life. People that give blood are amazing.”

Men are valuable donors for two reasons.

Firstly, they have higher iron levels. Each time they try and donate, they’re less likely to be deferred for low haemoglobin levels. That helps maintain a strong donor base, which is particularly crucial for people who need hundreds of even thousands of transfusions over their lifetime.

Secondly, women can produce antibodies during pregnancy, even during short pregnancies they don’t even know about. Antibodies are part of the body’s defence system and they make transfusions more difficult. This means men’s blood is only used for some specialist transfusions and blood products. Only men’s blood is used for complete blood transfusions in newborn babies, and also for plasma, which is used for people who’ve had massive blood loss. NHSBT also gets 93 per cent of its platelets from male donors – they are mostly given to cancer patients to cut internal bleeding.

Mike Stredder, the head of donor recruitment for NHS Blood and Transplant, said: “All our donors are amazing. But men’s blood can be used in extraordinary, lifesaving ways, but we don’t have enough new male donors coming forward. This is not about recruiting as many donors as possible – it’s about getting the right gender mix.”