Donating Cord Blood to Save Lives
Cord blood banking and donation are growing in popularity as the incredible value of umbilical cord blood is being revealed. Cord blood is extremely valuable as it is enriched with blood-forming stem cells. While your baby (generally) will no longer need the cord blood after delivery, the cells can be used to treat over 80 life-threatening diseases like leukemia and lymphoma.
Why not save my baby’s cord blood?
Banking cord blood costs can be high, which is why it’s not common procedure. If you have a history of cancers, blood disorders, or immune disorders in your family, however, private cord blood banking may be worth considering.
If you decide to bank your baby’s cord blood, there will be an initial fee for the collection, and a yearly fee for storage. The cord blood will be frozen in liquid nitrogen, and monitored closely. If there is a potential medical need for the cord blood, financial programs are available to help with cord blood banking costs.
Will it cost me to donate cord blood?
Cord blood donation costs nothing but a little planning, yet it could be a priceless gift to a desperate child.
Sometime before your 34th week of pregnancy, discuss the option of cord blood donation with your doctor or practitioner. They can tell you if your hospital accepts cord blood donation. If cord blood donations are accepted, your doctor can provide you with the contact information for the cryobank they work with.
The cord blood bank will then run tests to ensure that you are healthy and eligible to donate.
How is the cord blood collected?
When you check in at the hospital for your delivery, make sure to remind the delivery staff that you have decided to donate cord blood. Even if you have discussed this decision with your practitioner and have included it on a prepared birth plan, during your delivery there will be a lot going on and the focus will be on you and your baby; reminding the delivery team about your cord blood will ensure that it is not neglected in all the hustle and bustle of delivery.
Once the baby is delivered, the umbilical cord will be clamped as usual, and then blood from the cord and placenta will be collected. Depending on particular hospital procedures, this may be done either before or after the placenta is delivered. The collected blood is then tagged with an identification number and stored until it can be collected by a cord blood bank.
Since the blood comes from both you and your baby, the day after your baby is born, both of you will be tested for any infectious diseases. If there are no problems, soon afterward the cord blood bank will receive the donated blood unit.
What does the cord blood bank do with donated blood?
As soon as a unit of cord blood arrives at the cryobank, it undergoes a series of tests to be sure it has enough blood-forming stem cells to be eligible for a transplant, and to guarantee that it has not been contaminated during collection and transportation. If, for any reason, there are not enough blood-forming cells, the cord blood can often still be used for research purposes.
If all is well, the cord blood will be frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored until it is needed. The cord blood will be listed on a registry where donors and patients needing transplants can be matched. Of course, no personal information will be disclosed, as all cord blood will only be identified by a number.
How is the cord blood used?
When a transplant is needed, a doctor will look for the best match. Often, the closest match will be a sibling as the tissue types will be the most similar. If there is a sibling match, the cord blood from that brother or sister can be used for transplant.
Very often, however, there is not a suitable match in a family. In fact, seven out of ten patients will need to look outside their immediate family for a transplant. To date, over 22% of cord blood transplant patients receive cord blood that was donated to a public bank.
About The Author: Robert O. Dewald has written this article.
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