Consider donating umbilical
cord blood.

Umbilical cord blood.

Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells that have yet to begin their transformation and by donating umbilical cord blood you could save the lives of any of a number of patients with various different life threatening diseases. Cord blood donation is a simple procedure and can currently help patients who are suffering from illnesses that require by rebuilding hematopoietic system. Stem cells do this very effectively because they can form into any cells. At present the possibilities are limited to only those diseases that affect the blood stream but animal testing with embryonic stem cells and other stem cells is already showing positive results. Even hepatocyte derived stem cells (stem cells derived from the liver) are being tested with positive results.

The donation procedure.

The procedure of removing the blood from the umbilical cord is a very simple process. Once the baby is born, and breathes it's first few breaths the umbilical cord is clamped and cut as normal. This is always done once the baby takes a few breaths to ensure that it can survive without the vital link to his or her mother. Once the cord is cut and clamped it is usually only a couple more minutes until the placenta, or afterbirth is also born. At this stage the blood is taken from both. Normally, the cord and the placenta would simply be discarded at this stage. The blood can be removed from the cord either by using a sterile syringe or by elevating the cord and allowing the blood to run off into a sterile bag.

Transporting the blood.

Once the blood has been collected it is then transported immediately to the storage facility that you use. In the case of donating umbilical cord blood this will be the facility that is associated with the hospital you use and the physician that completes the process. This procedure means that there is no effect on the birthing procedure in any way by donating umbilical cord blood and you could very well save somebody's life. Donating cord blood in this fashion is entirely free to anyone who does it.

Registering to donate.

You can register at any point during your pregnancy but the earlier you do the better. You will be asked to provide certain information to the company you choose, this will include a completed consent form, a healthy history of mother and the full family and a small blood sample. This really is all that is required, showing how easy it is to save another person's life.

Be sure you want to donate and not store the blood privately.

Obviously donating umbilical cord blood is different to private storage. The blood you donate will not be reserved for the use of your child or your family but may be used for any patient that needs it. Your blood will be registered on the marrow register and whenever a patient requires a stem cell transplant your details and your child's blood will become available. Obviously, the more people who register to donate blood the more patients that will benefit. At present, the only way to help patients like this is through a bone marrow transplant but there are far fewer donors than patients waiting and this means that most people who need a marrow transplant are left waiting.

Before you do decide to donate umbilical cord blood it is vital that you know the difference between donating and between storing the blood for your own and your family's use. One reason that many parents choose to donate is because of what some people consider to be the high costs of private storage. Donation is still the choice of a great many parents though, and one you should seriously consider if you decide that private storage is not the way you want to proceed.

More