http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/index.html#cb
Are you interested in donating your baby’s umbilical cord blood?
Any woman who is at least 18 years old (16 in some locations), is in good general health and lives in a community where cord blood donation is available may be able to donate her baby’s umbilical cord blood.
Even if your community does not have a cord blood bank, many blood banks now use shipping companies to quickly ship the blood from your hospital to the cord blood bank.
If you have already donated your baby’s umbilical cord blood, we thank you for your donation.
To find out more about how the donated cord blood might be used, read about cord blood transplants or read the real life story of a cord blood transplant recipient. http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/index.html#cb
Do you have questions about the donation process?
Read a description of the cord blood donation process.
Read answers to common questions in the Cord Blood FAQs.
http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/index.html#cb
Last Updated: March 2006
Another organization that helps mothers Easily Save Their Babies’ Cord Blood is…
http://www.babiesforlife.org/howtodonate.asp
To read one mother’s journal about her experience with cord blood donation, click here.
How are umbilical cord stem cells obtained for transplantation?
Stem cells also may be retrieved from umbilical cord blood. For this to occur, the mother must contact a cord blood bank before the baby’s birth. The cord blood bank may request that she complete a questionnaire and give a small blood sample.
Cord blood banks may be public or commercial. Public cord blood banks accept donations of cord blood and may provide the donated stem cells to another matched individual in their network. In contrast, commercial cord blood banks will store the cord blood for the family, in case it is needed later for the child or another family member.
After the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been cut, blood is retrieved from the umbilical cord and placenta. This process poses minimal health risk to the mother or the child. If the mother agrees, the umbilical cord blood is processed and frozen for storage by the cord blood bank. Only a small amount of blood can be retrieved from the umbilical cord and placenta, so the collected stem cells are typically used for children or small adults.
Where can I donate umbilical cord stem cells?
NIH cannot accept donated umbilical cord stem cells from the general public.
The National Marrow Donor Program maintains a Web page on donating cord blood at http://www.marrow.org/NMDP/cord_blood_bank_list.html, and
the International Cord Blood Society has a website at http://www.cordblood.org/public/insights. http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/faqs.asp
Cord Blood Participating Hospitals
http://www.marrow.org/cgi-bin/NETWORK/nmdp_cord_blood_hospitals.pl#AL
Babies for Life Foundation — How To Donate Umbilical Cord Blood
http://www.babiesforlife.org/howtodonate.asp
How to Donate Umbilical Cord Blood
http://www.marrow.org/DONOR/index.html#cb
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/faqs.asp
For more detailed information about the use of Stem Cells for Medical Treatment, and Umbilical Cord Blood Collection and Banking, visit…
Benefits of Stem Cells to Human Patients
http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/treatments.htm
For updates on successful adult stem cell treatments, visit www/stemcellresearch.org.
The National Marrow Donor Program [marrow.org]:
Cord Blood Participating Hospitals
http://www.marrow.org/cgibin/NETWORK/nmdp_cord_blood_hospitals.pl#AL
Donating Cord Blood
http://www.marrow.org/NMDP/cord_blood_bank_list.html
The International Cord Blood Society
http://www.cordblood.org/public/insights. [http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/faqs.asp]
Resources
** American Association of Blood Banks www.aabb.org
** Babies for Life Foundation, (678) 937-1706, www.babiesforlife.org, offers a streamlined process to make cord blood donation easy for you, your family, and your physician.
** Cell Dynamics, LLC www.celldynamicsllc.com
** Cord Blood Donor Foundation www.cordblooddonor.org
** CryoBanks International
www.cryo-intl.com
** LifeBankUSA [public, also placenta donation] 1-877-LIFEBANKUSA
(1-877-543-3226)
** LifeCord (352) 224-1600 www.lifesouth.org/lifecord/lifecord.htm
[collects from Montgomery/Opelika area]
** StemCyte [private donation only]
(866) 389-4659 www.stemcytefamily.com
** The Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Donation www.parentsguidecordblood.org
http://www.parentsguidecordblood.com/content/usa/banklists/index.shtml
** National Marrow Donor Program www.marrow.org
** The Caitlin Raymond International Registry www.crir.org
** New England Cord Blood Bank
1-888-700-2673
www.cordbloodbank.com