Is there a cost to donate or save To find out more about cord blood cord blood? banking and donation, contact the There is no cost to donate infant cord blood to resources below. a public cord blood bank. There may be costs associated with family- or sibling-directed do- National Marrow Donor Program-Lists of hospitals that accept cord blood donations. nor programs. If parents choose to store their Phone: 1-800-627-7692 infant’s cord blood in a private bank, a collec- Web Address: www.marrow.org tion fee that ranges from $900 to $2000 and an annual storage fee of approximately $90 Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Banks-Information to $150 may be required. Fees vary between for parents on cord blood banking, and lists private banks. private and public cord blood banks. Web Address: How do we decide whether to www.ParentsGuideCordBlood.com donate? South Texas Blood & Tissue Center- The decision to donate or save cord blood Information on the process and benefits of cord is a choice that only expectant parents can blood banking and donation. make. It is important for expectant parents to Phone: 1-800-292-5534 talk to their health care provider so that they Web Address: have all the information they need to make the www.bloodntissue.org/texascordbloodbank decision that is right for their family. INFORMATION ON With cord blood banking parents have the opportunity UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD to save or donate precious stem cells for use in BANKING AND DONATION treatment of many diseases and save lives. View or download this brochure at: Texas Department of State Health Services www.dshs.state.tx.us/mch Orders can be faxed to (512) 776-7413. Please include name, address, stock number and quantity desired.

Publication # 6-73 11/2012

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS How is cord blood collected? Is there a demand for cord blood? ABOUT After your baby is born, medical staff collects Yes. Thousands of people who could benefit ABOUT the cord blood and places it in a special from a cord blood transplant die every year CORD BLOOD BANKING container that is sent to the cord blood bank. waiting for treatment. There is an especially The cord blood and mother’s blood are great need for more cord blood donations AND DONATION then processed and tested. If the mother’s from ethnic and racial minorities. blood shows the presence of any illness, the mother will be notified. If the cord blood bank What are the options for handling determines the blood can be used, it is stored This brochure gives you basic information cord blood? for future use. about cord blood banking and donation. Options for those who want to donate cord Public cord blood banks are regulated by Who benefits from cord blood? blood: the federal government. There are some u Donate to a public bank, where your restrictions that impact donation. Cord Cord blood transplants can help blood donation is made available to others, blood banks should be contacted for more relatives, extended family members, and much like blood banks. specific information on the process for non-related children and adults. One of the u Save cord blood through a family banking donation and storage. benefits of cord blood is that an exact match program. It will be available for family to the person receiving the cord blood is not members for a fee. required. Cord blood benefits people who are u Save it for a sibling with medical need. waiting for life-saving treatments. What is cord blood? u Donate it for research studies. Umbilical cord blood is the blood that stays Are there risks with cord blood You can talk to your health care provider and in the umbilical cord and placenta after the collection? delivery hospital to find out which options are birth of your baby. It can be used to help treat There are no risks to the mother or infant available to you. If you want to donate cord diseases in children and adults. No blood is when cord blood is collected. It is collected blood, talk to you doctor and contact a bank taken from a mother or her baby, only from the from the umbilical cord after the infant is born. before your 34th week of pregnancy. Not all umbilical cord and placenta. If parents decide Collecting the blood does not affect delivery hospitals participate in cord blood banking not to collect the blood, it is thrown away by or cause pain to the mother or infant. Programs. Be sure to find out if your hospital medical personnel. participates in cord blood banking. Are cord blood and embryonic How is cord blood used? stem cells different? Stem cells from cord blood can be used to Yes. Embryonic stem cells come from treat over 70 diseases in children and adults. developing human or animal embryos. Cord The stem cells in the blood help to build new, blood stem cells do not involve the use of According to the Institute of healthy cells and replace cells that have been embryos. Medicine, transplants of cord damaged. Cord blood has been used to blood cells have saved the treat certain cancers, inherited diseases and lives of tens of thousands of diseases of the immune system. Scientists Stem cells from cord blood Americans. are also studying whether cord blood can be can be used to treat over 70 used to treat other common diseases like heart diseases in children and adults. disease, stroke, and brain diseases.