But after two blood transfusions she perked up.
Her mother, Bridget Hayes, has been a huge supporter of the New Zealand Blood Service ever since the transfusions saved the life of her now 5-year-old daughter.
Next week is National Blood Donor Week, and she is urging anyone interested in donating blood or plasma to check if they are eligible and book an appointment.
It was ‘‘a bit of a story,’’ Mrs Hayes said.
For the first 20 weeks of her pregnancy, everything was normal.
‘‘I was very nervous throughout my pregnancy, as a first-time mum ... in the end it was probably quite a good thing.’’
At 36 weeks, Mrs Hayes stopped feeling Sofia kicking.
She went to Dunedin Hospital, was checked over, told everything was fine and was sent home.
Then on May 10, 2021 she went back because she was still not feeling Sofia move.
‘‘The hospital was very chaotic and the surgeons were all running around, it was already a full-on day there.’’
She still went for peace of mind. However, once tests started, the midwife’s face dropped.
A doctor told her they did not know what was wrong with Sofia and there was no time to find out, but Mrs Hayes needed an emergency Cesarean section right away.
When Sofia was pulled out she was 4lbs (1.8kg), extremely pale and limp and the room was silent.
‘‘I thought she was deceased,’’ Mrs Hayes said.
Sofia needed two blood transfusions administered through the umbilical cord, after which she was stable.
The next day, doctors tested Mrs Hayes’ blood.
‘‘They didn’t know why Sofia was so anemic. They eventually tested my blood and found her blood in my blood.’’
Sofia had hemorrhaged a significant amount of blood while she was in the womb.
‘‘It’s rare, but she basically just drained into me ... she was really just bleeding to death.’’
As a result complications arose for Mrs Hayes as she has a negative blood type, whereas Sofia has a positive blood type.
That meant Mrs Hayes was at risk of her immune system developing antibodies to attack Sofia’s blood cells.
That would have had a potentially devastating impact on any future pregnancies due to the risk of developing haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn (HDFN).
HDFN could lead to severe anaemia, jaundice, brain damage or stillbirth in any future pregnancies.
To prevent this, Mrs Hayes received the one of the largest doses of Anti-D ever given in New Zealand at the time.
Anti-D, a plasma-derived treatment, was given to stop Mrs Hayes’ immune system from attacking the red blood cells.
‘‘It was a horrific amount — but it was really good because it meant I could have my second child, Boston.
‘‘I would have been able to get pregnant, but he probably would have just died, or had serious complications.’’
After three weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, Sofia could go home.
While sitting next to Sofia in the Nicu, a nurse told her they had both done pretty well with the blood bank.
It was only thanks to blood and plasma donors that Sofia was alive and well, and Mrs Hayes was able to have a healthy second pregnancy.
