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Options for Umbilical Cord Blood

Before your baby is born, the umbilical cord is a lifeline. After birth, your baby no longer needs the umbilical cord, and it is usually just discarded. But the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta could serve as a lifeline for someone else.

Understanding your options

Your decision about what to do with your baby’s umbilical cord blood is a personal one. We want you to understand your options so you can feel good about your decision. Today, expectant parents may choose from among the following options:

Donate to a public cord blood bank. When you donate cord blood to a public bank, you are making it available to any patient in need of a transplant to treat a life-threatening disease. Learn more about donating cord blood.
Store it in a private family cord blood bank. When you pay to store cord blood in a private family cord blood bank, it is saved for your family.
Save it for a family member with a medical need. When a sibling or relative has a disease that may be treated with a bone marrow or cord blood transplant, parents can choose to save their baby’s cord blood for directed donation. Collecting and storing cord blood for directed donation is often offered at little or no cost through many public and family cord blood banks, if it is medically indicated.
Donate it for research studies. Laboratories and technology companies conduct studies to help improve the transplant process for future patients. (This cord blood is not stored for transplant.) The collection process for research is free.
Do nothing. You can choose to do nothing with the umbilical cord blood, and it will be discarded after birth.

If you are expecting a baby, talk to your health care provider about these options. Your decision could help change someone’s life.

Making a decision about public donation or private storage

It is important to understand that even when you plan to donate cord blood to a public bank or store it in a private family bank, the cord blood unit will need to meet the standards to be usable in a transplant. To be used for a transplant, cord blood must be free of disease and infection and be large enough (have enough blood-forming cells).

Public banking

When you donate your baby's umbilical cord blood for public use:

It is available to any patient in need of a transplant; it is not reserved for your family members.
There is no cost to you because public cord blood banks cover the cost of processing, testing and storing donated cord blood.
It is collected under strict quality standards to ensure suitability for transplant. If standards aren't met for transplant, then you may be asked to have the cord blood unit used for research to improve the transplant process for future patients, or the unit will be discarded.

Where to Donate – Find hospitals that collect umbilical cord blood for storage in public cord blood banks.

Private family banking

If you store the cord blood in a private family cord blood bank, it is reserved for your own family members. Private family cord blood banks are available throughout the country for anyone. You are charged a fee for the collection and an annual fee to store the umbilical cord blood. For more information about private family cord blood banks, see cord blood FAQs.

Medical position statements

For more information on why you may or may not want to choose private storage or public donation, see the following resources:

American Academy of Pediatrics

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has developed the following resources:

AAP Frequently Asked Questions about Cord Blood Banking: http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/jan07cordbloodfaq.htm
For more details, see the official AAP policy statement, Cord Blood Banking for Potential Future Transplantation: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/119/1/165

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has published a Committee Opinion on Umbilical Cord Blood Banking. See the official press release: http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr02-01-08-2.cfm

American Medical Association (AMA)

The American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted ethical guidelines for physicians about umbilical cord blood. See the AMA's official policy at:
http://www.ama-assn.org/apps/pf_new/pf_online?f_n=browse&doc=policyfiles/HnE/E-2.165.HTM

Additional resource

For information about the need for more cord blood donations and options for umbilical cord blood, see the official U.S. Government Web site managed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at http://bloodcell.transplant.hrsa.gov/CORD/index.html.

For more information on public donation and private storage, including questions to ask private family banks, see the Parent's Guide to Cord Blood at parentsguidecordblood.org.