Cord blood donation is becoming more and more known. Umbilical cord blood stem cells can be used in transplants to treat a variety of pediatric disorders including leukemia, sickle cell disease, and metabolic disorders.
While some parents choose to pay to bank their baby's own umbilical cord stem cells in a private cord blood bank, others make a cord blood donation to a public cord bank for all children to use.
If you're interested in making a cord blood donation, here are the steps to take.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 15 to 30 minutes
Here's How:
- See if your hospital accepts donated umbilical cord blood. Although many hospitals are not affiliated with a public cord bank and so don't accept donations, you may find that yours is a part of the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Network of banks or a non-network cord blood bank.
- Contact the specific public cord bank you will be donating to and make sure you meet their eligibility requirements, which mostly have to do with being 18 or older and in good health. Those with a history of cancer; diabetes; hepatitis; malaria; recent STDs; or HIV/AIDS (or risk of infection) are not eligible. In addition, those who have had recent tattoos or piercings are not considered candidates.
- Fill out a consent form from the public cord bank.
- Make sure your labor and delivery team knows that you are choosing to make a cord blood donation, so that they can collect and store your baby's umbilical cord blood when he or she is born.
Tips:
- Cord blood donation for public use is an alternative to paying for private cord blood banking, although you won't have access to your own donated cord blood.
- Cord blood in a public cord blood bank may be available for your baby to use if he or she needs a cord blood transplant, even if you didn't make your own cord blood donation.
- Plan in advance if you would like to make a cord blood donation, so that everything is set up and ready when your baby is born.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages cord blood donation to cord blood banks for public use, and discourages private cord banking.
What You Need:
- A collection kit from a participating public cord blood bank or hospital.
- Your baby's umbilical cord blood collected by the labor and delivery staff.
