How do you donate cord blood?

Question

Ok, since I just asked a question about this...  :-)  I had no idea how expensive it was!  How do I go about donating my baby's cord blood?  Is that something that's fairly routine at the hospital, or do I need to contact someone in advance?

Thank you all so much!  You're great.  :-)

Answer 1

i do not know that you can donate your babys cord blood. you can have is saved and frozen for your baby's future or their siblings. you will have to ask your doctor about donating it. if you are planning to keep it for YOUR possible future needs (for your whole families) then you just take the kit that you were sent with you to the hospital. make sure you tell the nurse and doctor that you have it. they will take care of the rest.

Answer 2

http://marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood…

The National Marrow Donors Program handles donated cord blood in the US.  The link above gives you information about how to do it.

It is free to donate, but will involve some leg work in making sure your hospital is set up to do the donation.  Also, you have to meet the same medical requirements as for the marrow donor registry.

Answer 3

Contact your hospital. Mine had representatives there and they asked me when i came in what i was doing with it. only thing is you do have to get an extra vial of blood drawn after for them to test when you donate it. if your hospital does not automatically do it look up cord blood donations on google or something im sure you will be able to set it up easily.

Answer 4

Ask your OB for some literature on it.  They'll give you the correct number to call and the blood bank will tell you the rules and send you the kit.  You just bring the kit to the hospital and your doctor will know what to do.  It's fairly easy, you just have to make sure it gets shipped promptly.