Umbilical Cord Blood Donation

[JenTheRN]

Have any of you seen this happening? We would like to get started with it. The main question I have right now is this: Do the parents always have to send away for their own kit? I think it would be practical to have kits at the hospital.

[mitchsmom]

I donated cord blood in 2002.

We couldn't pay to store it but I figured I could at least donate it to research, or whatever it could be used for. So we did.

The kit was free and it all seemed quite easy.

I don't think the nurses at the small hospital had seen it done before, but my OB MD had stored her own baby's cord blood so she knew about it.

I believe I used http://www.cryo-cell.com/

[beckinben, CNM]

I have collected cord blood donations - only one hospital in my area is doing it, but more are going to join in. I think this is going to become more common. Most of the families we talked to would rather donate than store for themselves. Not just because of the money, but because they felt it would benefit society to donate.

Here's a link to one program -

http://www.uchsc.edu/clinimmune/cordbloodbank/more_info.htm

Becki

[strn96]

I've had very little experience with cord blood donation. The couple that I took care of provided the kit for us (they said the cryobank shipped it to them free), we collected the blood and weighed the sample (you have to have a certain amount or they won't accept the donation) and then called the cryobank's 800 # and they instructed us about finishing paperwork and mailing the sample. I don't remember the name of the cryobank the parents used, though, as this was several months ago.

[midcom]

One of my instructors just went to a seminar & at it a doctor from the University of Iowa Hospitals spoke about cord blood donation &, according to him, if more parents knew they could donate and they started donating, then all the ethical problems of embryo cord blood studies would no longer be as they wouldn't need to use embryos.

He said it is donated so if the child had a problem down the road, he'd not necessarily get his stem cells but that they'd have a large bank of stored blood & there may be a match. It is free, althuogh I don't know if it is only certain hospitals that do it or if, with the kits, the blood can be collected & sent to the correct place for storage.

Dixie

[gr8rnpjt, RN]

if more parents knew they could donate and they started donating, then all the ethical problems of embryo cord blood studies would no longer be as they wouldn't need to use embryos.

Dixie

I have long suspected this. ( I believe you meant that the ethical problems of embryonic stem cell research would no longer be an issue)

However, at least 4 years ago, I was unable to find a company that would take our donated cord blood.

If there is a company that would accept cord blood from any hospital, they should advertise like crazy!! I know there are parents that want to do this (donate) and have been unable to find out how to to it.

[catiecake]

www.nationalcordbloodprogram.org

This is a free public national cord blood bank. It is run by the New York Blood Center. Unfortunately, only six hospitals or so participate in the program, and they are all in NY except for one in VA and one in OH I believe.

[curlyTKB]

When I was pregnant in 2005 my ob doc gave us a info sheet for donating our cord blood to cryobank international. He gave these sheets to all patients. Its an easy process and I believe it can be done at any hospital willing to do it (although they are clear that you are responsible for any associated fees form the hospital for the collection process, if they charge them). You call a number and give them some information. They will reject you for certain medical conditions, including any autoimmune disease. A kit is sent to you with specific directions. Its all pretty user friendly. It would be great if more docs got on board with this and informed their patients. The blood is used for both those in need and for research--worthy causes. I believe you can initially apply for this process around 28 weeks. It would be great all hospitals had these kits on hand, but there is a thorough screening process involved so I don't know how that would work out. Probably the best thing would be for all OB docs to pass along this info to ALL of their patients. I'm sure many people would be more than willing.

[wisners]

Cord blood can be stored two different ways. The most common, is storing the cord blood for future use by the same family who donated. The parents are in contact with the cord blood company, go through their process, they are sent a kit, which they will have with them at the time of delivery. The provider will collect the cord blood, sometimes blood samples of the mom are also collected, and all is sent to the company for storage. It costs a great deal of money for the initial processing of the cord blood and usually a pretty high annual storage fee.

The other type of storage is a donation program, much like you would donate blood....it can be used by anyone. There are a few public donation cord blood banks in the country. In this type of donation, for example, the American Red Cross, the parents must go through a screening process, sign consents and they must deliver at a hospital that participates in the donation program. The providers are trained in the collection and the cord blood is processed at the same facility, or shipped to the nearest processing center. There is a lengthy list of criteria that the donor must meet before donating. Usually the cord blood bank lists their cord blood units with the NMDP (National Marrow Donor Program) and is available internationally.

I have seen where cord blood stem cells have saved lives :)

[OzNurse69]

Common practice here.

These are the guys that deal with cord blood donation in our hospital.

http://www.bmdi.org.au/default.asp?id=40

I work in NICU, so I'm not sure of how it works, but most parents donate their child's cord blood.

Cheers.