New York
NY, United States
New York has state legislation around cord blood education that follows the Institute of Medicine guidelines and asks (but does not mandate) physicians to educate expectant parents about ALL forms of cord blood banking. The New York bill was enacted 7 Aug. 2007 and became effective 7 Feb. 2008.
FAQs
- Do I need to store the cord blood in the country where I plan to use it?
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No. First, you must store blood in a lab that is permitted by the regulations of the country where you will give birth. Second, you should store cord blood in a lab that can receive and process the collection within 48 hours of birth. After cord blood is collected at birth, the stem cells start to die while the blood is waiting to be processed and frozen. The quicker it gets to the lab the better. By comparison, if you ever need the cord blood for therapy, it will be shipped in a vessel that keeps it frozen. When cord blood is released for therapy can travel to the other side of the world with no loss of viability, because it travels frozen. It is only thawed at the clinic where it will be used.
- How is cord blood collected?
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It literally only takes minutes to save the stem cells in cord blood. Once the cord is clamped, the cord is wiped with antiseptic and a needle is inserted into one of the veins in the umbilical cord to withdraw a few ounces of blood.
There are two methods of collection in common use. One is to hang a blood bag lower than the mother and let gravity draw blood down the tube into the bag. This method is used in most countries of the world, because it has the fewest steps, and therefore the fewest opportunities for mistakes or contamination.
The second method is to actively draw the blood out, just like when a person has a blood draw for a medical test. The draw can be done with a standard syringe or with a bulb in the bag tubing that creates suction. Studies have shown that actively drawing the blood will collect a larger volume faster.
- Who is able to donate cord blood?
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In theory, any expectant mother who passes the medical screening is eligible to donate. In practice, the biggest hurdle faced by families who wish to donate is finding a bank to accept their donation. There are only about 200 hospitals in the US that collect cord blood donations from births, and most of them require you to register for donation weeks ahead of the birth. The handful of programs that accept mail-in donations are opening this opportunity to the rest of the American public.
