These tiny twins need a gift much more personal than flowers.

Deb Humphreys had been called into the hospital for a routine pregnancy scan.

Forty-eight frightening hours later, she was giving birth.

She was only 26 weeks pregnant when she delivered identical twins Hannah Rose and Ellie Grace. Hannah weighed only 1145 grams; Ellie was even smaller – just 695 grams

Deb’s pregnancy had been rough and although she always feared the girls would come early, she had been desperate to make it to 32 weeks.

“I really wanted to make it to 32 weeks and every time I had a scan I said, ‘can I go home now, can I just go home now?'” she said.

The tiny girls – who weighed about the same as a bag of flour at birth – were put onto ventilators. And they needed blood transfusions, again and again.

It was these repeated transfusions that caused Deb to think more seriously about blood donations.

"She (Ellie) just had another one the other day," she said.

Deb decided the best way to repay those who had donated was by using her own story as a way to boost donations for other Australian families.

Deb's sister Helen took this on board and began a blood drive on behalf of Deb and the girls.

Helen created a RED25 donation group with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and hopes to reach 100 donations by their first birthday.

So far, 32 have donated under their group name 'Hannah Rose and Ellie Grace'.

Deb is thankful for every drop but hopes others will choose to give.

"People have come forward saying, "I've never donated because I’ve never thought of it before" and "I used to be a regular donor but stopped"," she said.

A spokeswoman for the Red Cross Blood Service said fresh blood was vital and donations were needed on a daily basis for situations like the twins.

Premature babies - who often need assistance with nutrition and growth, and have to have their blood levels rapidly replenished after samples are taken for tests - almost always need multiple transfusions.

"Around 1000 blood donations are needed every week to help mothers and new babies," she said.

The twins are now eight weeks old and slowly gaining weight at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney.

Deb said she would be forever grateful to the hospital's nursing staff.

"The nurses have saved Ellie’s life more times than I can count," she said.

The twins now weigh 2.6kg and 1.2kg.

Deb laughed when asked about larger twin Hannah.

"She’s huge, I think she’s massive. I was having twin hugs today and she looks like a giant compared to Ellie," she said.

Deb and husband Matt take turns visiting their little girls daily despite a commute of almost 45kms and the demands of two young boys at home.