 Where appropriate, it carries certain advantages –including the reduction of infection risk, and the provision of more functional cells not subjected to the significant storage durations common among banked allogenic (separate-donor) blood products.Autotransfusion also refers to the natural process, where (during fetal delivery) the uterus naturally contracts, shunting blood back into the maternal circulation.This is important in pregnancy, because the uterus (at the later stages of fetal development) can hold as much as 16% of the mother's blood supply 

Autotransfusion is intended for use in situations characterized by the loss of one or more units of blood and may be particularly advantageous for use in cases involving rare blood groups, risk of infectious disease transmission, restricted homologous blood supply or other medical situations for which the use of homologous blood is contraindicated.