'only way to find out your blood group is to give blood'???

[52andblue]

I called my GP to find out my blood group.
I was told 'not on your records unless you've given blood'
I have given birth and had recent surgery so surely it would be on there?
I was told the only way to find out is to give blood?
My kids are at a different GP. I was told their blood groups also 'not avail'. I have recollections of a 'green book' when they were babies but they are now nearly 14 and 17 so probably long lost.

They are joining Cadets and want the wee dog tags which say which blood group you are. It's not essential but surely it should be possible to find out without giving blood or trying to phone hospital where I gave birth (the other suggestion) ? Do I have to pay for a SAR?

You must be able to gets this privately.

@SeasonFinale regarding the vaccination it may be different in other areas but not all but GP surgeries don't have blood group information.

If your DC have autism then you tell them that in this country, medics would never rely on what someone thinks they are, they give a blood which can be used by all. It would be dangerous for them to rely on a patient's own memory in case it's wrong.

How would I find out if I'm not able to give blood or get pregnant?

@wonderstuff

I know I'm O- because I had to have anti-D injections in pregnancy, seems strange they don't keep that on your notes. Both kids were tested at birth because I'm Rh- and both were O+ so dh must be.

I looked into giving blood recently as I'm able to for first time, but they've really reduced the amount of blood they collect over last few years and there were no appointments near me for months. I assume they don't really need blood products from people who aren't rare blood types.

Actually it’s the people with rare blood types (AB+ for example) who are most often turned away because there’s less demand for it. O negative is the one blood type which will always guarantee you a glowing welcome from a blood bank.

They do prioritise regular givers and when they try to recruit new donors they focus on men and people from ethnic minorities for various medical reasons. But as an O neg it’s worth you having another look in a while, or even just making an appointment for months in advance.

@SplendidSuns1000

How would I find out if I'm not able to give blood or get pregnant?

You’d have to pay for a private test unless you had a surgery which is major enough to need a group and save. GP do not have blood groups on record and maternity notes stay at the hospital Do you have online access to your notes? If you do you could see if there was a detailed maternity discharge summary as these sometimes have your blood group in. It is possible your children’s blood group has never been checked or recorded

O negative is the one blood type which will always guarantee you a glowing welcome from a blood bank.

Not really.

@bashfulclam Polished your halo this morning?

There is absolutely no need to know your blood type apart from interest- there is no situation (with the possible exception of professional soldiers on a battlefield) where you would need to know your blood type. Even if you were bleeding out and had your blood type tattooed on you, you would get Oneg until your blood was tested. It’s one of the most highly controlled systems in medicine (for good reason)

Blood types are only checked if you are pregnant, needing a blood transfusion, in hospital with something that might need a blood transfusion (eg bleeding) or needing major surgery. Or if you give blood. They’re not checked on any routine bloods and not kept in GP notes. Babies of rhesus neg mums get tested because of the implications for antiD.

I know mine (blood donor then recipient plus pregnancy) and my husband knows his ( donor) so I could make an educated guess at my sons but still wouldn’t be 100%

Just pick up a testing kit, you can get them on amazon and they are not expensive.

I am rhesus negative and when I was pregnant they took a blood test from me to find out DDs rhesus status. They only told me that she was also negative and nothing came through about her blood type. When she is older I think we will so the test kits as a science experiment as DH does not know his blood type either.

'to look Gucci'?
NO. They have Autism. They've got it in their heads that it would be 'excellently most correct' to have these tags. It's important to them and (maybe) could be useful & they're on sale for £2 each so why not?

Well ok, I was trying to help....
I am assuming you mean Army Cadets, and 'looking Gucci' is Army chat, or well was in the 90s, someone who wanted to look 'cool' just because.
I inferred as am sure others have that you were expecting them to be issue ones, not ones you were planning to buy.

@minisoksmakehardwork ah I see, makes sense!

That is totally correct. GPs do not generally know your blood group unless you have been pregnant.

I checked through my maternity notes, it's not there.

I gave blood at 18 so I could find out.

This came up very recently on here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4174768-I-don-t-know-my-blood-group

You can buy tests online cheaply which require a finger prick of blood.

homehealth-uk.com/all-products/bloodgroup/

Loads of tests like these available to buy

Mine was in my maternity notes. I just happened to notice. I suspect it's not routinely tested because it really doesn't matter unless it has clinical implications (for example, being rh negative in pregnancy), so it would probably not be randomly in your GP notes. You can request your maternity notes. If it's for your dc that you want it, unless they have had it tested, I can't see how they would have that on their GP record anywhere.

@Troysmammy Mine did. So in circumstances whereby it seems there are differing levels of access around the country she should try if she wants to. Mine also very quickly responded to an email from my son asking for a list of all vaccinations he had ever had and emailed within an hour with that list. I don't think our GP surgery is particularly special but perhaps they are.

Three pregnancies (in the early seventies)
Three blood group cards, all B,
One Rhesus Positive
One Rhesus Negarive
One Positive when donating, Negative when receiving.(or possibly vice versa)
Strict instructions on each to carry at all times. They have been lurking unused in the back of the filing cabinet for 50 years.

Very interesting. I'm Oneg and wear a MedicAlert necklace just in case. I found out through donating blood.

@Jaxhog

Very interesting. I'm Oneg and wear a MedicAlert necklace just in case. I found out through donating blood.

Out of curiosity, why do you wear the MedicAlert ? No one ever suggested it to me.

@DGRossetti

O negative is the one blood type which will always guarantee you a glowing welcome from a blood bank.

Not really.

Oh yes, it is! I can always get an appointment to give blood.

Practice nurse.
We do not store maternity notes at our practice. It's not usually 'in your notes' either. So not laziness.
Vaccinations yes. Completely different.
No idea what blood group I am or the DC and really, there's no need to know. A private blood test will tell you.

Oh yes, it is! I can always get an appointment to give blood.

I gave up donating - after 65 pints - because they were getting silly with appointments. Didn't just cost them my blood, but my DS (also O neg) gave up after 2 donations for the same reason - much less patience kids today.

@DGRossetti I'm also diabetic, and it was suggested due to travelling in some out of the way places.