In June 2005 Gift of Life began a life-saving initiative called the Cord Blood Program. This program provides yet another option for patients in need of a transplant. Donating your baby’s cord blood can be a life-saving opportunity for a family member or a complete stranger. Cord blood transplants are a viable alternative to receiving a peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) or bone marrow transplant. Presently cord blood is used to treat various diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma and other blood related disorders. 

Following a baby’s birth the blood that remains inside the umbilical cord and placenta has a high concentration of blood forming stem cells that can be used in transplants. Many times this cord blood is discarded as medical waste.

Cord blood collection is safe for both the mother and baby, and can be performed after single delivery vaginal births. Once a baby is born and the umbilical cord clamped and cut, the cord blood is collected. This procedure takes just minutes and is completely painless. Following collection, the cord blood is shipped to Gift of Life’s cryopreservation facility at the University of Massachusetts where it is tested, processed, and frozen in liquid nitrogen.

Cord blood transplants provide certain advantages that PBSC and bone marrow transplants cannot. For instance cord blood donors and transplant recipients do not need to be an exact DNA match; usually, a partial match of four out of six alleles is sufficient. Another advantage of cord blood transplants are a limited transplant waiting period. This means once a match is found and confirmatory testing is complete, the donated blood may be transported to the requested transplant facility. Lastly, once frozen the cord blood has no shelf life, so it can be used five, ten, or fifteen years after collection.

Gift of Life offers expectant mothers in the New York metropolitan area the opportunity to enroll its cord blood program at the Boro Park OB/GYN clinic of Brooklyn, as well as other select offices in the area. For expectant mothers who are new to the area or have not had the opportunity to enroll; Gift of Life offers a walk in program at Maimonides Medical Center of Brooklyn. Cord blood donations take place exclusively at this center. If you live in the New York or Brooklyn area and plan on giving birth at the Maimonides Medical Center your obstetrician must be a trained collector with a signed agreement with Gift of Life. For more information about the cord blood program, please contact one of our cord blood coordinators at 1-800-9MARROW.