2,000 Units of Umbilical Cord Blood Is Goal

Gainesville Cord Blood Bank Selected to Participate in Pilot Project

LifeCord has been selected by the National Marrow Donor Program^® (NMDP) to participate in a nationwide pilot project to increase the number of minority umbilical cord blood units listed on the NMDP Registry. The project's goal is to collect 2,000 cord blood units from African American, Hispanic/Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander donors.

LifeCord, a program of LifeSouth Community Blood Centers, collects donated cord blood at North Florida Regional Medical Center, Shands at Alachua General Hospital, Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, Shands at Lake Shore Hospital in Lake City, The Birthing Center, and The Patient's Corner. LifeCord is one of eight cord blood banks in the NMDP's extensive Network of international organizations that help to facilitate marrow, blood stem cell and umbilical cord blood transplants for patients without matching donors in their families.

"Minority parents - especially African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos - in the North Central Florida region have a unique opportunity that very few people in the United States have, " says Kathy Welte, NMDP cord blood program manager. "Donating your baby's umbilical cord blood gives searching patients one more chance of finding the blood stem cells they so desperately need to get their transplants."

Each year, thousands of people are diagnosed with diseases which can only be treated by a marrow, blood stem cell or umbilical cord blood transplant. The blood stem cells found in cord blood are being studied as a new choice for treating patients in need. Patients are most likely to find a matched donor or cord blood unit from within their own ethnic group. Patients of minority race and ethnicity such as Hispanics, African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives and Asians and Pacific Islanders are less likely to find a match. Minority umbilical cord blood donation offers minorities a greater chance of getting the transplants they need.

Donating cord blood is easy, free, safe and confidential. After the baby's birth, the umbilical cord is clamped, breaking the link between the baby and the placenta. This process does not harm the mother or the baby because the cord blood is collected from the placenta after delivery, and would normally be discarded. The small amount of blood remaining in the umbilical cord - typically three to five ounces - is drained and taken to a cord blood bank where it is frozen. The baby's mother must agree, on behalf of her child, to the collection and storage of the cord blood for possible transplantation.

There is no cost to the mother for donating and the cord blood bank will take care of the procedure and cover the cost of donation. Expectant parents interested in donating cord blood at the participating hospitals in the North Central Florida area should talk to their doctor or call LifeCord. Participating mothers are asked to provide a health history, have their blood tested and meet general health requirements.

The NMDP Cord Blood Program began in September 1999 and facilitated its first umbilical cord blood transplant in February 2000. Since that time, the NMDP has facilitated more than 60 cord blood transplants, has developed partnerships with eight cord blood banks and has the single largest listing - more than 14,500 - of cord blood units in the U.S.

For information on cord blood donation in the North Central Florida area, call LifeCord at (352) 334-1083. For more information about the NMDP, please call (800) MARROW-2.