Dealing with hemophobia as a parent: Paediatric first aid trainer teaches pregnant Lauren Pope how to overcome fear of blood
When it comes to parenting, you have to become pretty unflappable when it comes to knocks, bruises and blood.
For the former The Only Way Is Essex star, Lauren Pope, this might prove a bit challenging, given her fear of the latter.
“One thing I am quite worried about when I have a baby, please god don’t let anything happen but, I’m terrible with blood. If I see blood, I go woozy, I go faint,” the 37-year-old admitted on Yahoo UK’s The Baby Bump with Lauren Pope.
She was joined by Michelle Murray, first aid trainer at Daisy First Aid, who explained the realities of dealing with blood for people who have a fear of it.
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The fear of blood is a common one - often referred to as hemophobia. While most people are a little uncomfortable with the sight of loads of blood, for others it makes them feel faint or even actually faint.
Pope, who is 35 weeks pregnant, revealed that she doesn’t want her child to pick up her fear or anxiety around it.
“With blood, the main thing you want to be doing is stemming the flow of the blood,” Murray advises.
“You want to be pressing it or getting them to press on it. That immediately takes it out of your sight.
“It’s about having a moment of clarity, and I always come back to that. Think calmly and confidently.”
Murray talked about the importance of staying calm in anxiety-fuelled situations extensively, revealing that babies, toddlers and even adults feed off of our anxieties and can make the whole situation feel more stressful.
That’s why you might’ve noticed a crying baby crying even more when you’re feeling stressed within yourself.
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Speaking about getting over hemophobia, Murray said the best thing you can do is take a moment and stay calm.
There are some practical bits of advice to consider when stemming blood, too.
“You do need to inspect it (the wound),” Murray explains, which she demonstrates on a mannequin.
“You want to cover the wound and you want to put some pressure on because that’s what stops bleeding. Having already had a quick look to make sure there’s nothing embedded, then you’ve got to put pressure on, therefore you’ve not got blood everywhere.
“Sit the person down, incase they fall down, and just take deep breathes.
“With deep breathes and calming the situation you wouldn’t get the leg wobbles but you may well still feel adrenaline, which can present itself as excitement or nerves.
“When you’re a parent I think that some of the things you’re worried about now do go out the window,” Murray tells Pope, “because something else kicks in, that instinct to look after your child.”
