A friend just forwarded this information to me. Unfortunately I won't be giving birth near any of the registered hospitals but if you are it sounds like a really amazing thing to do.
Umbilical cord blood is particularly valuable for helping individuals with cancer, because it has a higher chance of being useful in treatment than bone-marrow/stem-cells. There is no risk of harm to either the mother or baby by collecting cord blood, which is normally discarded.
If you would like to donate the cord blood from a child you are expecting, first please note the following:
- You must not be more than 34 weeks into the pregnancy.
- You must be delivering a single baby
- It must be an uncomplicated pregnancy.
- You cannot donate if you have had hepatitis or HIV, or if the mother, the father, or a sibling of the baby has had cancer.
The UK has an excellent Cord Blood Bank and Database, however, only 6 hospitals in the UK are allowed to publicly collect and store cord blood.
NHS Hospitals collecting and storing cord blood:
-Barnet Hospital (Hertfordshire)
-Northwick Park Hospital (NW London)
-Luton & Dunstable Hospital (Bedfordshire)
-Watford General Hospital (Hertfordshire)
-St Georges Hospital (London)
www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/cordblood/index.asp
The Anthony Nolan Trust also operates its own cord blood collection and storage facility at King's College Hospital, London
www.anthonynolan.org.uk/cordblood/How+to+donate+cord+blood
www.matchdevan.com/cord-blood-donation