Availability of Public Banking

At 5:03 pm by Kate - Category: Cord Blood 101, Public Banking

Public cord blood banks: evaluating the benefits and limitationsToday, public banks are an important resource for those patients who do not have access to a source of matched family stem cells. And many women want to donate their baby’s cord blood stem cells to a public bank to help provide life-saving treatments to people in need. It is a worthy cause so it’s important for pregnant women and their families to be fully informed about public cord blood donations before making a decision.

When a medical need for stem cells presents itself, a patient’s doctor will first look to family members to find a match. They may also access the National Marrow Donor Program’s (NMDP) Be The Match ® registry – an inventory of stem cell sources potentially available to be used in transplant. Even with this resource every year 10,000 people do not find an immediate match and must wait for a match in order to receive a stem cell transplant. ¹

Staying informed: donating cord blood to a public bankPublic banks have a series of guidelines that families must follow in order to donate a cord blood unit. These guidelines include:

1. You must deliver your baby at an NMDP participating hospital.
2. Filling out an application that includes a health questionnaire and consent forms. This strict evaluation process can disqualify a mother for a variety of reasons ranging from an organ transplant to tattoos.
3. The full application for donating cord blood must be completed before the mother’s 34th week of pregnancy.

Once the cord blood is donated, it is evaluated to guarantee that enough cord blood stem cells were collected to meet the minimum criteria. In addition, a maternal blood draw will be tested for infectious disease. If the donated unit does not meet eligibility requirements or if there is a positive infectious disease, it will not be saved by the facility for use to treat a patient.

Donating to a public bank: Why don’t all hospitals collect?Because there is a financial impact to collecting, transporting and storing cord blood, it is not possible to donate cord blood at every hospital. In fact only 3% of hospitals in the nation can facilitate public cord blood donation today.²

A Mail-In Donation program is being piloted in three hospitals, two in Texas and one in North Carolina. The program has the same eligibility requirements mentioned previously. To learn more, click here.

Public Cord Blood Donation: What happens next?Public donation is free for the donating family, however once the cord blood is donated, it’s no longer available for the family’s exclusive use. If a family is in need of a transplant and a suitable match can be found in the public registry, there is a fee associated with retrieving the unit for use. A unit can cost up to $35,000³, which may or may not be covered by insurance. Watch for an upcoming blog post on the costs associated with both family and public banking.

Raising awareness about cord blood stem cells—you can help!Whether you decide to store your baby’s cord blood privately or donate it, the value of cord blood stem cells is immeasurable. Here are some things you can do to spread the word:

• If you know someone who is expecting, make sure they know they have choices when it comes to cord blood banking. Family banks provide patients and their families additional options they would not have if they relied only on the public system as a resource.
• If you’re expecting and choose not to bank privately, talk to your OB/GYN about donating your baby’s cord blood.
• If your local hospital is not listed on the Be The Match Registry talk to your hospital about the importance of banking cord blood stem cells and mention that you wish they were involved.

And you can also spread the word on our blog by telling us your story! Do you know someone that has benefited from a stem cell treatment?