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In general, there are two types of cord blood banks. "Public" banks collect, process and freeze blood obtained from the umbilical cord of newborns and make these units available for all patients in need, including the donor should that situation occur. Public banks do not charge the donor for the collection, processing, freezing or storage of the units. Such banks generally collect cord blood units only from certain hospitals with specifically trained staff. Enough cord blood units have been collected world wide so that most patients in need can find an acceptable cord blood unit for transplantation. However, even more units are needed in order to provide all patients who need a transplant with a very well matched donor unit with an adequate number of stem cells to satisfy the needs of even adult patients.
Other cord blood banks are known as "private" banks. These banks charge the donor a collection fee and a storage fee and reserve the unit for the exclusive use of the donor, an appropriate family member of the donor, or others as designated by the donor. The pros and cons of participating in collection by a "private" bank are not within the scope of this web site.
Still another type of bank is called a "sibling donor bank." If a pregnant woman has a child who has disorder for which a transplant is indicated such as leukemia, sickle cell anemia or transfusion-dependent thalassemia, one of the cord blood banks should be contacted. (click HERE for listing ). The cord blood of the newborn infant may be the optimal source of stem cells for the transplant. For mothers who have a child with sickle cell anemia or thalassemia, the sibling donor program located at Oakland Children’s Hospital in California has had most experience. The collection of the cord blood unit need not be at Oakland Children’s Hospital.
CordBloodForum.org welcomes questions and comments.