Cord Blood Donation

This is just a quick note to tell everyone about cord blood donation.  I was planning on doing cord blood donation but, as mentioned, not much of the end of my pregnancy and delivery went as planned.  So, since I wasn't able to do it, I want to make up for it by trying to inform other women about it and encourage them to do it.  Whenever your pregnant you hear all about cord blood banking from all the private companies seeking to make money off of it, but you hear very little about cord blood donation. 


Why donate cord blood (particularly instead of banking it)?  Cord blood banking is very expensive (an initial investment of a couple thousand dollars and an annual storage fee).  Also when you bank cord blood for your own use it is pretty much a gamble since you may or may not ever use it and it may or may not even be able to help your child on the off chance that he/she gets sick.  However, when you donate cord blood it can be used as soon as it is needed by someone - frequently used for blood cancers like leukemia (from what I gather).  Cord blood donation is free.  Your donation is catalogued and if you ever do need it and it is still available, you will be able to use it. 


What happens if I don't bank or donate my cord blood?  It is thrown in the biohazard bin and disposed of.  Just think, something that is thrown in the trash could be used to save someone's life. 


Note - This is not stem cell research or anything like that.  It's like donating blood or bone marrow, only it's painless.  They send you a kit, your OB takes a little course on how to collect it to get certified, and you send it in.  (If you happen to go to a partnering hospital, it's even easier than that.)


For more information on how to donate your cord blood, check out this website:


http://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/index.html