Luis Hernandez: Babies born at UF Health can be heroes through cord blood donations
Public cord blood banking is now available in Northeast Florida for the first time. LifeSouth Cord Blood Bank has partnered with UF Health North and UF Health Jacksonville to offer this wonderful, cost-free opportunity for families. Mothers that give birth at these hospitals are now able to donate their baby’s cord blood to potentially save a life.
A newborn’s cord blood is rich with hematopoietic stem cells that can be utilized in the treatment of cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma and other diseases of the bone marrow. Cord blood is collected from the discarded umbilical cord or placenta after a baby is born. The donation process is safe and pain-free for both mother and child.
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Unlike private cord blood banking, which is expensive and can only be used to treat the family of the donor, a public cord blood bank, like LifeSouth, provides the service of banking for free. Cord blood units that meet criteria are added to the Be the Match Registry, the largest global cord blood registry, serving patients around the world. When compared to traditional adult marrow or stem cell donations, cord blood offers practical advantages in donor-patient matching.
While the tissue from an adult donor must be matched with near pinpoint accuracy to a recipient, cord blood can be successfully matched with more patients. Donating cord blood to the LifeSouth Cord Blood Bank supports the goal of addressing the need for more minority and ethnically diverse cord blood units, giving every person a better chance of finding a match for life-saving treatments.
The success of the LifeSouth Cord Blood Bank program is only possible with the support of UF Health partnering hospitals and the OBGYNs, nurses and support staff who work to educate families on this incredible opportunity. We are grateful to provide families in Northeast Florida an opportunity to donate cord blood. If you are an expectant mother or know someone who is, I encourage you to learn how your newborn can become a hero by visiting LifeSouth.org or by calling (888) 795-2707.
Luis Hernandez, director of cellular therapies, LifeSouth Cord Blood Bank
This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Babies at UF Health can be heroes through cord blood donations
