Teach Yourself About Cord Blood Banking Before Donating

The national cord blood donor program is expanding across Canada with the BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver becoming the latest cord blood collection site.  Canadian Blood Services, the primary architects of the donor program, encourages as many new and expecting mothers as possible to donate their baby’s cord blood.

Cord blood is found within the umbilical cord at birth, and is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells.  These cord blood stem cells are a potential source of therapy for blood diseases such as leukaemia or lymphoma, with medical trials testing cord blood’s potential to treat genetic disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

The donor program will make it easier for Canadians in need of stem cell transplants to find viable donors, particularly minorities and citizens of mixed heritage.  Mothers can also bank their baby’s cord blood at family facilities which also store cord blood samples, but specifically for those families to make use of if ever the need arises.

With Canada’s population one of the most ethnically diverse in the world, families stand to benefit more from privately banking their baby’s own cord blood rather than donating the sample.

For one thing, family banks except as many as 98 percent of collected cord blood samples.  Choosing this option practically ensures your baby’s cord blood is accessible whenever the situation calls for it

On the other hand, the donor program discards as many as half of collected samples due to medical concerns

Family cord blood banks are also partnered with many hospitals across the country, whereas the donor program is limited to facilities registered with the program

This makes it more difficult for the donor system to match cord blood samples to patients in need of transplants, particularly Canada’s minority population

The donor cord blood program is an excellent awareness campaign to help Canadians learn about the potential benefits of cord blood banking.  With this knowledge, along with more information describing the differences between family and donor cord blood banking, families can make the best decisions for the well-being of their own children’s futures.