The Jehovah's Witnesses governing body has changed longstanding doctrine to allow followers to choose whether to accept red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma or platelets.
A Hunter Valley woman says her mother's life could have been saved under the doctrine change.
The daughter of a Jehovah's Witness who bled to death in Newcastle after refusing a blood transfusion says she is angry the faith has taken so long to tweak its doctrine to allow for blood transfusions in emergencies.
Last week, the church announced it would alter its longstanding opposition to lifesaving blood components for medical use.
Libby Macintyre lost her mother, Heather Winchester, after she refused a packed red blood cell transfusion in emergency in 2019.
Ms Macintyre said she was angry over the number of lives lost, including her mother.
Hunter Valley woman Irene Shea runs a support group for thousands of women who have left the church.
Ms Shea said she was angry about deaths she felt could have been prevented, under old blood refusal rules.
Last Friday, Jehovah's Witness Governing Body member Geoffrey W Jackson announced the changes via video message from New York.
Heather Winchester, 75, died from complications after surgery at an NSW hospital in September 2019.
An inquest heard Mrs Winchester lost more than a litre of blood after the elective surgery at Maitland Hospital and was urgently transferred to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital.
Despite the policy outlawing transfusions of whole blood, Australian Medical Association president Dr Danielle McMullen said procedures that before would have been refused could go ahead.