Earlier after childbirth, the umbilical cord was thrown away as it is no longer needed for the baby. Now, instead of throwing away as a waste, it can be donated for public use. It is noteworthy that donating cord blood neither affects the mother nor the child. A healthy woman (18 years and older) who had a normal pregnancy and delivery can donate her child’s umbilical cord blood in public cord-blood banks. This can be used later for saving someone with a life-threatening disease.
If a woman has decided to donate cord blood, she needs to talk to the concerned physician and contact public cord-blood banks. If the concerned hospital has facilities for collecting public cord blood, then the public cord-blood bank will confirm whether she can donate or not based on the result of the blood test. If the blood test result is negative for infectious diseases, the concerned bank will give a consent letter in which the mother has to sign. After that further procedure of collecting and preserving cord blood is done and the cord blood is stored for public use.
