Indiana

IN, United States

Indiana does not have state legislation that specifically addresses education about cord blood options.  However, Indiana does have legislation designed to create a public donation program, and the existence of such a program indirectly creates a need to promote public awareness of donation. 

Indiana House Bill 1172 of 2008 authorizes the Secretary of Human Services to form an Indiana non-profit corporation that will collect cord blood donations, plus donations of other perinatal tissues.  The Indiana legislation is very unusual in that it explicitly calls for the collection of "other perinatal tissues".  As of 2010, there is a non-profit organization that collects donated birth tissues from Indiana hospitals and sells them to tissue banks.


FAQs

What are the most important considerations in picking a family bank?
1. Nationality - You must follow the national regulations of the country where you will give birth.
2. Travel conditions - It is best to pick a bank that can receive and process the cord blood within 48 hours of birth.  It is also best for the cord blood to be shipped in a transport container that will maintain it at close to "room temperature". 
What questions should parents ask a Family Bank about Shipping & Handling?
  • Is the cost of shipping included in the contract? 
  • Does the shipping company offer bed-side pick-up?  
  • On weekends, are the laboratory staff in-house or on-call?
  • Does the bank guarantee to get the blood to the lab and processed within a certain time window?
  • Does the shipping container have a temperature logger?
  • If the bank uses a courier, does the courier have possession of the cord blood throughout transit?  (ie: Does the courier sub-contract to another shipping company that is not a medical courier)? 
What is delayed cord clamping?
Some people feel that the blood in the umbilical cord should be allowed to flow into the baby and that the cord should not be clamped while it is still pulsing.  Medical studies have shown that, particularly in parts of the world with poor infant health care, delayed cord clamping can help protect the baby from anemia (low blood counts) during the first 6 months of life.  However, a prolonged delay will allow the blood in the cord to clot, and the opportunity to collect the blood for stem cells will be lost.  Therefore, if clamping is delayed, it should not be more than two minutes.

References:
Hutton, EK & Hassan, ES, JAMA 2007; 297:1241-1252
van Rheenen, P et al., Tropical Med. and Internal Health 2007; 12(5):603-616
Abalos E., 2009; The World Health Organization Reproductive Health Library
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