Cord blood for donation or research...

I've posted about this in the past but wanted to post again with new information since I am a STAUNCH believer in cord blood donation :)

For those of you who do not want to throw out the precious cord blood (It REALLY saves lives with NO DISCOMFORT or COST to you or your baby) or those precious stem cells, here is some info:

Donation for BANKING:

CryoBanks International collects cord blood from all over the US. You just need to contact them by no later than Week 35.
800.869.8608 or www.cryo-intl.com

National Marrow Donor Program doesn't collect the cord blood but has a ton of info on the subject AND has a list of participating hospitals that do participate in collections.
www.marrow.org

www.parentsguidecordblood.com has a small section about cord blood donation as well.

Donation for RESEARCH:

Unfortunately, donation for banking is not an option for me, so I began looking into donation for research. I am soooooo dedicated to finding someplace that would accept the cord blood stem cells for cancer research. This is still ongoing, despite being so late in the pg, but I thought that I'd post my info.

CryoCell collects for research (they might also collect for donation). You have to contact them by NO LATER than Week 32.
800.786.7235 or www.cryo-cell.com

CryoBanks International also collects for research but it is on a limited basis. Currently, they are not collecting for research.

Also, try your local university hospitals in an area that interests you ~ cancer (breast, childhood...ANY KIND), spinal cord injury, etc.

Thank you for considering donation, of any kind :)

I recently checked to see if any of our local hospitals were equipped to take cord blood to be used for donation and none were. I was sad about that. I don't plan to bank any for us, but I figured donation was a great thing!

The hospital doesn't need any special equipment. We used CryoBanks International, and they sent a collection kit we took to the hospital. After the birth, DH or the nurse called a toll-free number, and a courier came to pick up the blood an hour or so later.

What you do need to do is check with your OB or midwife to make sure that he or she is okay with doing the collection. My practice was fine with it, but I had to use a company that was approved by the group's attorney (apparently there was some patent infringement case or something like that - I don't think it was a malpractice issue). The practice manager had a list of acceptable companies, and CryoBanks was one.

I hope it works out!

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
and Charlotte, 11-04-04

Thanks Sharyn. I had meant to do this, and simply forgot about it. I just called now to request information about donating.

Where are you delivering? Inova Fairfax has a donation program. We tried donating both times but they never were able to get enough from me. That was the most upsetting part of both my deliverys. Cord blood should NOT go to waste. It's too valuable.

Allison
~ mama to Declan 3.24.03 and Meghan 8.26.04