Donate Cord Blood To Save Lives
Umbilical cord blood donations do not use the mother’s blood, they use the baby’s blood that is left in the umbilical cord after birth. The cord blood is full of stem cells that the scientific community has pounced on.Why? Those stem cells are the basic building blocks of life.
Stem cell technology is being trialled on people with spinal cord damage and various cancers such as leukemia. One day they hope to be able to take stem cells and grow new organs like a liver or heart. The best stem cells to use are those taken from a new born baby’s umbilical cord. This is why umbilical cord blood donations are important
A syringe is generally used to collect donated cord blood after the cord has been cut. Some midwives simply squeeze the blood from the cord. Collecting donated cord blood is better than just throwing the umbilical cord and the umbilical cord blood out. After collection, the donated cord blood is stored and then sent away to have the stem cells harvested.
You can donate the cord blood through many general hospitals. They collect the cord blood on behalf of a cord blood research unit. The most common treatment at present is juvenile leukemia where it has a high success rate.
You can also have the cord blood stem cells stored or ‘banked’ for future use by your family. Cord blood has been used to treat siblings as well as the baby itself. Collection will cost around $2000 with an annual fee of around $100.
Science has looked upon cord blood stem cells as one of the holly grails of science. The ability to repair spinal problems and restore movement to para/quadriplegics has received a huge push due to recent progress in research. There are already 70 known diseases that can be cured using cord blood stem cells – the biggest problem has been the lack of cord blood donations. It is estimated that cord blood is collected in only one in five hundred births – the remaining four hundred and ninety-nine births have their umbilical cords thrown away.
The best thing you can do to help increase in the amount of cord blood collected is to use the service and donate cord blood. If you are pregnant, ask the hospital or midwife if they collect cord blood. If not, there are many agencies that will collect it, either for public cord blood banking, or, if you are prepared to pay the price, your own personal cord blood banking. If friends or relatives are pregnant, get them to inquire about the process.
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