When Canberra mum Karen Cameron's body started fighting against her own baby during her second pregnancy she was overwhelmed.
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Her baby, Elliott, had developed Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn because Mrs Cameron's positive blood type had started developing antibodies against Elliott's negative blood type.
While Elliott survived, he needed blood transfusions after being born anemic, a treatable lack of healthy red blood cells.
"It was just one of those scary situations where you don't quite understand what is going on," Mrs Cameron said.
Whilst HDN can cause anaemia, it is also potentially fatal for the baby and can cause brain damage or stillbirth.
HDN can affect one in six births in Australia and is treatable by an injection of 'anti-D' which is produced by plasma from only 130 Red Cross Blood Service donors in Australia.
The Blood Service's Jemma Falkenmire said they can treat about 40,000 Australian women each year thanks to those donors.
Only three people – including Mrs Cameron – have self-produced antibodies to fight HDN in the ACT but about 1000 babies in Canberra could be potentially affected.
"What's really cruel about this disease is the very thing that caused harm to her baby [...] actually prevents this happening," Ms Falkenmire said.
"We give them injections of blood that contains an antibody and that antibody prevents the mother's body from creating the antibodies that attack the baby."
Doctors can test the unborn baby's blood type but it requires an invasive procedure where a needle is inserted into the mother's abdomen.
The Blood Service's own Dr Cate Hyland is developing a non-invasive test which can accurately predict an unborn baby's blood type through a blood sample taken from the mother.
From this blood sample, researchers are able to find the unborn baby's DNA and learn its blood type.
Ms Falkenmire called on more Australians to donate plasma to the Blood Service and to see if they could become an anti-D donor.
"You simply have to be a negative blood type and go through the donation process to see if you're eligible," she said.
Ms Cameron went on to have a third child, Maya, and thanks to Dr Hyland's test they were able to determine whether the pair would need an anti-D donation.
"If you're able to do it [donate plasma], it's a really important thing to make sure there's enough available to prevent these types of problems from occurring," she said.
