|
Prospective Donor FAQ
I'd like to donate my newborn's cord blood
to the National Cord Blood Program. How do I get started?
You can donate to our Program if you deliver
your baby in one of the NCBP's participating hospitals. In the New
York metropolitan area, they are New York-Presbyterian Hospital's
Cornell Weill Medical Center; Brooklyn Hospital Center; North
Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center in New Hyde Park (both part of the Long Island
Jewish Health Systems). Outside of New York, participating hospitals
are Inova-Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia and MacDonald
Hospital for Women, part of the University Hospitals of Cleveland,
Ohio. A brochure that briefly explains the Program may be obtained
through the hospital or your physician if you plan to deliver your
baby at one of these participating hospitals. Donating is simple. You do not need to notify the NCBP or do anything
in advance! At our
participating collection sites, NCBP staff attempt to collect cord blood
from most births. Exceptions at present are when the mother or baby is not eligible, if the
delivery is on a Friday or Saturday, or if the family has already signed
up for storage with a private cord blood bank.
What happens to the cord blood when it
is not collected by NCBP staff?
The "afterbirth," along with
the cord blood it contains is routinely discarded after delivery.
The birthing hospital takes care of this. Is cord blood collected from all births
at the five collaborating hospitals?
Is cord blood collected from all births at the six collaborating hospitals?
Currently, cord blood is collected
24 hours a day, five days a week, from Sunday morning through Friday
morning. Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient funds at the present
time to collect cord blood all seven days a week.
Is a cord blood collection always successful?
No. It is often not possible to collect
enough cord blood to provide sufficient cells for a transplant.
We only succeed in collecting a unit that meets our standards about
40% of the time.
What happens after the collection?
If an adequate cord blood unit is collected,
one of our nurses will visit the mother, explain the Program fully
and ask whether she would like to donate the cord blood to NCBP's
public cord blood bank for use by any patient that might need it.
Donation is strictly voluntary.
If the mother chooses to donate, she
will be asked to sign a written Informed Consent Form affirming her agreement
to participate [See Cord Blood Collections].
Should the mother choose not to donate for possible transplantation, the cord blood can either be given anonymously for research purposes only or it can be discarded, as the mother wishes.
Are there any risks involved in collecting
cord blood?
NCBP procedures to collect cord blood are
safe and risk-free for the mother and baby because the collection
is made from the delivered placenta AFTER the baby is born, AFTER
the cord is cut and AFTER the placenta has been delivered. Thus,
collection does not interfere with the Obstetrician's management
of labor and delivery nor with the care of the mother and baby.
There are no risks to mother or baby.
Does it cost anything to donate?
There are no costs to the donor. The NCBP
covers all the costs of collection and all testing.
What if I want to store the cord blood
privately for my own family?
Unfortunately,
you cannot donate cord blood to the NCBP public bank and also store
privately. There are simply not enough cells in a cord blood collection
to do both. Private storage
must be arranged during pregnancy with a company chosen to provide
this service so that the Obstetrician can use the company's equipment
and follow their procedures.
Rarely, parents have requested transfer of a unit we collected to private storage. Some private companies will only take units that were collected with their own equipment and that they have processed themselves. However. If the unit can be transferred to a private company, we will charge for reimbursement of the costs of our collection, processing, testing and storage (about $1,800). At transfer, we ask one or both parents to review all documents and witness packing for shipment to assure that the correct unit is released and to document that it is in good condition.
What tests are performed on donated cord
blood and what happens to the results?
As a public cord blood bank, we are required by law to test cord blood donated for transplantation
for certain infectious diseases: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, the
cause of AIDS), hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV), human T-lymphotropic
virus (HTVL) and syphilis. This testing is the same as is required for blood donated for transfusion. We also test the baby's saliva for Cytomegalovirus
(CMV). The cord blood also is tested
for hemoglobin abnormalities such as sickle cell disease. And, samples
will be stored to allow for testing anytime in the future in case further tests become necessary.
At the time of the donation, the mother
provides the names and addresses of her Obstetrician/Gynecologist
and the baby's Pediatrician. The results of routine tests will be sent to the physicians within 3 weeks.
Is the information confidential?
All information collected from the mother
in connection with donation and all test results are kept confidential,
in a locked file room and in a secure computer database with no
link outside the NYBC. To protect the privacy of the family,
the identity of the mother and baby are kept temporarily in NCBP's
records (until after results of the infectious and genetic disease
tests are reported). Health authorities, however, require a link
to the donor for possible public health reasons. We, therefore,
maintain long-term linkage to the donor through the mother's and
baby's hospital records.
What if a family donates cord blood and
the baby or some other family member needs a transplant at some
time in the future?
When cord blood is donated to the
NCBP, it will be made available to any patient who might need it.
Availability for the infant or another family member, therefore,
cannot be guaranteed. To date, about 2,000 cord blood units donated
to the NCBP have been sent for transplants: 1-5% of the 25,000 units
donated so far have been transplanted within 5 years of donation;
20% of units donated 10 years ago have been used. A few units (less
than 1%) have been used for research purposes or to validate and
monitor the quality of our operations. Note: With federal funding
and increased inventory of donated cord blood units nationwide,
these percentages may decrease over time because so many more units
will be available. Or, if new uses for cord blood are found, the
percent used may increase.
If the cord
blood has not yet been used for a patient or for research purposes, the child who donated the cord blood, or another family member, can have it. When a transplant is contemplated, however, the patient's physician will recommend whether
the child's own cord blood is the best option [see Public Donation vs. Private Storage]. The child's own cord blood could not
be used for a genetic disease, for example [See Anthony Dones story]. Most transplant physicians
also would not use a child's own cord blood in a transplant for leukemia.
If the
donating family someday requires a stem cell transplant and the donated unit is no
longer available, the NCBP will provide the best available match
from another cord blood donor. |
