Cord blood banking is a simple way to help save lives. If you wish to donate cord blood, mention this to your doctor at your next prenatal appointment. It is best to tell your doctor by your 34th week of pregnancy. Your healthcare provider will be able to answer any questions you might have. It is important to make sure that you meet eligibility requirements and that you will be delivering at a participating hospital.
To donate cord blood, you will need to deliver your baby at a hospital that accepts these donations. If yours does not, you might be able to contact a cord blood bank in your area for other options. Even if there are no cord blood banks near you, there might be national banks that collect from all over the country. Your healthcare provider will need to agree to this kind of collection.
You also will need to know whether you are eligible to donate cord blood. Most blood banks require you to be at least 18 years old. You must not have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or hepatitis. Any history of sexually transmitted disease in the previous 12 months must be evaluated. You are also ineligible if you have diabetes, have or have had most forms of cancer, have had malaria in the previous three years, received an organ or tissue transplant or received a tattoo or body piercing in the previous 12 months.
After you have determined your eligibility and talked with your healthcare provider, you must contact the cord blood bank that will be doing the collection. They will send you a health questionnaire and consent form. Banks affiliated with a widespread donor program will have a special consent form for their research purposes.
When you arrive at the hospital to deliver, inform the staff that you wish to donate cord blood. After the baby is delivered, blood from the umbilical cord, as well as some from the placenta, will be collected in a sterile bag. An identification number will be assigned to the bag to protect your identification. A sample of your blood will be tested for infectious diseases. The bag of blood will then be stored for collection by the selected cord blood bank.
After your cord blood arrives at the bank, it will be analyzed to determine the amount of stem cells present and to be sure that it was not contaminated. If there are enough for a transplant, it will be tissue-typed, listed on a registry, and then frozen and stored. If there are not enough cells present for transplant, the sample might be used for research.