Why should I donate my baby's umbilical cord blood?
Donating your baby’s umbilical cord blood may offer a precious resource to a patient in need of a life-saving stem cell transplant.
How does umbilical cord blood help save lives?
Umbilical cord blood contains blood-forming stem cells, which can renew themselves and develop into other types of cells. These stem cells are used in transplants for patients with cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. Cord blood can also help treat over 80 other life-threatening diseases.
To learn more about the conditions treated with cord blood, visit the Parents Guide to Cord Blood.
Why should I donate my baby’s umbilical cord blood?
Donating your baby’s cord blood is simple, safe, and free. It does not change your delivery and provides a precious resource for patients needing life-saving stem cell transplants. Many people are not able to find a suitable bone marrow donor on the NMDP Registry® and rely on alternatives like umbilical cord blood for their treatment.
If a family member ever needs a stem cell transplant, and your donation was banked but unused, it would be available to support their care.
Are umbilical cord blood cells the same as embryonic stem cells?
No. Umbilical cord blood cells are taken from the umbilical cord (and placenta) after a baby is born, not from an embryo.
If I don’t donate my baby’s umbilical cord blood, what happens to it?
Unless donated, the placenta, umbilical cord, and stem cells they contain are discarded as medical waste.
Are there alternatives to cord blood stem cells for patients who need transplants?
Yes, cord blood is one of three common sources of cells used in transplants. The other two are bone marrow and peripheral (circulating) blood stem cells (PBSCs), which are collected from adult volunteer donors.
Learn more about stem cell alternatives.
What happens after the cord blood is collected?
After your baby’s cord blood is collected, our cord blood donation coordinators process and ship it to our affiliated public bank, the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank at Duke University. There, it becomes available for matching through the NMDP Registry® to patients around the world.
If there is not enough cord blood collected, or it does not contain enough stem cells for a transplant, it may still be used for life-saving research.
