The Collection and Storage of Umbilical Cord Blood for Transplantation

The blood in an unborn baby's umbilical cord contains blood-making cells that could help treat another person with a life-threatening disease. These cord blood cells may provide cells for transplants given to patients with marrow diseases such as leukemia. These cord blood transplants can be done when a patient's cell type (human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, type) matches the cord blood type. 'Cord blood' is normally thrown away with the umbilical cord and placenta after the baby is born.

Collection of the cord blood takes place after your new baby is born and the umbilical cord has been clamped and cut in the normal way. The collection of cord blood takes place from the part of the cord that is still connected to the placenta, not to your new baby. The cord blood may be collected 'in-utero': after your baby is delivered but the placenta is still inside the uterus, or it may be collected 'ex-utero': after the placenta is delivered. The choice of which method of collection is performed will depend on the preference of your obstetrician/midwife. Neither method puts you or your baby at any risk of injury. Once the cord blood is drawn, it becomes the property of the MD Anderson Cord Blood Bank, and you will not retain any residual interests or rights to this sample.

During the delivery of your baby, your obstetrician has your health and that of your newborn baby as his or her main concern. If you agree to take part in this study, your doctor and/or the Cord Blood Bank staff will try to collect the cord blood, but your doctor's main concern will be the well being of you and your baby. Circumstances may arise which prevent the collection of your cord blood.

The cord blood that is collected will be taken to the MD Anderson Cord Blood Bank Laboratory, where it will be tested or sent out for testing to laboratories accredited for doing those tests as described below.

Just like the donation of blood for transfusion, it is important that cord blood does not carry any infections that can be passed on. When volunteers donate blood to a blood bank, they are asked to fill out a confidential questionnaire about their risks for some infections (like acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis, and/or malaria). You will be asked questions like these in a questionnaire. You will also be asked some questions about your family medical history, to check for the chance of an inherited disease that could be passed on with the cord blood. This questionnaire will be completed within 48 hours of your baby being born, and will take about 15 minutes to complete. This questionnaire is used for screening purposes, and may result in your cord blood not being suitable for patient use, in which case the cord blood may be used for research purposes, for quality purposes (to improve cord blood banking procedures), or discarded. Your medical chart, and that of your infant, will be reviewed to help determine whether you may have a disease which could be inherited and thus transmitted with the cord blood to a transplant patient who receives it. Additionally, you will be asked about your family ethnic/racial background; this information is used to help match the cord blood to the patients.