Most hospitals discard cord blood after baby’s birth, despite the fact that this precious cord blood contains stem cells that can be used in transplants for as many as 80 serious medical problems. Those include the most prevalent types of leukemia, metabolic disorders like Tay-Sachs disease, blood-related conditions such as sickle cell anemia and severe anemia problems.

Each year, 9,000 Americans - one-third of them children - die waiting for a transplant because there are no matches in national registries, according to National Bone Marrow Program’s Cord Blood Bank Network.

Once donated to a public bank (at no cost to the patient), cord blood can be tapped for transplant by anyone in the world, as long as blood types match. Families contributing to public registries can’t be promised their baby’s blood will be reserved for them. But if no one claims the blood, families are eligible to receive it.

After collection, stem cells, the body’s early repair tools, are extracted from the blood, tested for diseases; listed by its antigen, or subunit, components; and frozen. The blood in the umbilical cord and placenta is collected after a baby’s birth, posing no risk to the mother or her child. Link

Your baby can be instrumental in saving precious lifes. Will you help?