Cord Blood Awareness Month

July is National Cord Blood Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness amongst expectant parents about the importance of saving cord blood and the valuable human cellular tissue products it contains! Cord blood is the term used for the blood collected from the umbilical cord and placenta when a healthy baby is born. 

Cord blood banking means preserving the newborn human cellular tissue products found in the blood of the umbilical cord and the placenta. After a baby is born, and even after delayed cord clamping, there is blood remaining in the umbilical cord and placenta that holds valuable newborn human cellular tissue products. Parents have a choice between donating cord blood to a public bank for free, or paying to store it for their family in a private bank. Cord blood banking includes the whole process from collection through storage of newborn stem cells for future medical purposes.

When it comes to OrthoBiologics, the human cellular tissue products QOMC uses for our joint injections are collected from the cord blood donated from healthy live births. 

The human cellular tissue products found in umbilical cord blood can be used to cure 80 diseases that include cancers, hereditary anemias, and disorders of the metabolism or immune system. Patients in need of a human cellular tissue products transplant may rely on donated cord blood units. Due to a lack of awareness, over 90% of this life-saving resource is simply discarded as medical waste. To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at http://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/youngest-donor

Family cord blood banking means parents pay a private bank to store their baby’s cord blood so they will have access to the human cellular tissue products in case of future need. Many family cord blood banks store additional types of newborn human cellular tissue products, such as cord tissue. A family bank has a cord blood banking laboratory to provide this service. To learn more about cord blood banking, visit Parent's Guide to Cord Blood Foundation at https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/family-banking 

QOMC is proud to bring attention to Cord Blood Awareness month and highlight the importance of cord blood donation for the good of our future health.