Contents
What is cord blood used for?
Umbilical cord blood, also called placental blood, is medically interesting because it contains hematopoietic stem cells. These stem cells are capable of donating all the cells in the blood: red blood cells and white blood cells (granulocytes, lymphocytes, platelets). This placental blood is used for transplantation to patients with blood diseases (leukemias), lymph node diseases (lymphomas) and hemoglobin diseases. All of these diseases can also be treated with a bone marrow transplant. Cord blood collected immediately after childbirth is stored in banks by freezing.
Cord blood donation is voluntary, free and altruistic.
What are the conditions for donating cord blood?
A priori, any pregnant woman in good health, without a particular history, can donate her cord blood. You will need to have an interview with a specialist doctor during pregnancy and you will have to give birth in an authorized maternity hospital. Your blood will be analyzed twice to verify the absence of infectious disease: the first time during childbirth and a second time three months later. Finally, the sample will only be taken if you give birth at term and if no problem arose during the delivery.
If you would like to donate, ask your doctor or gynecologist to find out if a maternity hospital in your area collects cord blood.
How is the cord blood collection carried out?
The sample is a simple and painless gesture, both for the mother and for the child. It takes place within minutes of childbirth, after the umbilical cord is cut and the placenta is still in the uterus. The sample is simply taken through a vein in the cord in order to collect the placental blood. Once collected, the blood is taken within 24 hours to the nearest placental blood bank. The blood volume and the amount of stem cells are measured, and the blood group as well as HLA characteristics are analyzed. The blood is then frozen in liquid nitrogen to ensure its preservation.
Cord blood: which establishments are approved?
Today, only a dozen French maternities practice the sampling of placental blood. They are located near the three French placental blood banks: Besançon, Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Louis. The network of banks is managed in partnership by the Biomedicine Agency, and the France Greffe de Moelle registry.
Cord blood: what are private banks for?
Abroad, more and more private banks are offering future parents the opportunity to collect and store their child’s cord blood. These banks give families hope that cord blood stem cells can one day be used to reconstitute various organs (bladder, liver, heart valves) in the event of illness.
Be careful, these applications are impossible today and remain confined to the field of fundamental research.
Cord blood transplant versus marrow transplant: what are the advantages?
When performing a bone marrow transplant, the HLA characteristics of the two individuals must be very similar. We are then more likely to find a compatible individual within the family than in the general population, but these chances are still reduced.
When performing a cord blood transplant, the HLA characteristics must also be close, but we can allow ourselves some differences. Stem cells, which are more immature, can accept a certain margin of HLA incompatibility. The range of donors is therefore wider. The second advantage is that the cord blood, stored in banks, is immediately available.
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