Cord Blood Bank
All expectant mothers delivering in Onondaga County can donate their cord blood.
Donating is easy. There is no risk and no cost. And, you can save someone’s life.
Why expectant mothers should donate:
- Cord blood collection is painless and done within 10 minutes of giving birth.
- 95% of all cord blood is traditionally discarded as medical waste.
- Cord blood is rich in stem cells for patients that are difficult to match.
- Cord blood is used in life-saving transplants for 80+ diseases.
- You only have one chance to donate.
St. Joseph’s Health Hospital takes pride in providing a safe, compassionate, and personalized birthing experience. Now, during that experience, mothers have the potential to cure someone’s blood disease. We have partnered with the Upstate Cord Blood Bank at Upstate Medical University, our local not-for-profit public banking center, to help improve and save lives.
Cord blood donation is completely safe for mother and baby; labor and delivery are not affected. No blood is taken from a newborn; it is only removed from the umbilical cord after birth.
Umbilical cord blood has beneficial value in fighting against blood cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma, and as many as 80 other life-threatening diseases. A cord blood transplant might just be the only hope of a cure for those suffering from cancer and other diseases.
Deciding whether to donate cord blood is best done during the pregnancy. Each OB practice will provide expectant mothers with educational materials about cord blood donation and the forms required to donate. The forms are completed by the expectant parents at home and submitted directly to the cord blood bank. Once reviewed, the bank will notify St. Joseph’s Labor and Delivery unit about the mother’s intention to donate. The hospital staff then notifies the provider right before the birth. Once the blood is removed from the umbilical cord, the donation is then packaged and transported to Upstate’s 20,000 square-foot facility that features a state-of-the-art processing laboratory and cryogenic storage containers.
Thank you for choosing to save lives. And, thank you for having your baby at St. Joseph’s Health Hospital.