The blood that circulates through the umbilical cord has different and unique properties. It has a high content of stem cells that are capable of generating different types of blood cells. It can be used therefore for transplants in the same way and for the same indications as bone marrow.
Umbilical cord blood collected in a donation is the blood that remains in the vessels of the umbilical cord and the placenta. It is always done after the baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut and entails no risk to either the mother or child.
Umbilical cord blood transplantation, like bone marrow transplantation, contributes to curing certain blood diseases, such as leukaemia, in children and adults. The number of transplants performed from umbilical cord blood progenitors is increasing rapidly throughout the world.
What does the cord blood collection procedure consist of?
The umbilical cord and the blood it contains are discarded after delivery. The cord blood collected in a donation is the blood that remains in the vessels of the umbilical cord and the placenta. It is always done after the baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut and entails no risk to either the mother or child. The procedure is simple: to obtain the blood, the gynaecologist or midwife attending the birth performs a simple puncture of the blood vessels in the umbilical cord with a needle when the placenta is still inside the uterus.
What is done with the cord blood once it has been collected?
Once the blood is obtained, it is processed and cryopreserved (frozen) in the umbilical cord blood banks where an initial evaluation of the cellularity features of the samples is performed. The blood banks guarantee adequate conservation of the blood for many years, and analyse the compatibility of the cell features so that the cord blood units can be used in the best conditions and immediately. Authorised transplant centres are responsible for the transplant indications and procedure, in collaboration with the umbilical cord banks.
Who can be a donor?
Providing there are no complications during pregnancy or childbirth, the mother can be a cord blood donor if she is of legal age, healthy and has no personal or family history of disease that might be transmitted via the blood. Donation in all cases is altruistic and anonymous.
Umbilical cord donation research
Another potentially promising application of the stem cells contained in cord blood is in regenerative medicine. Other cord blood components, such as plasma and platelets, have also been used in recent years in the treatment of skin ulcers in patients with diabetes and in patients with inflammatory eye diseases.
The Hospital Clínic is one of the centres in Catalonia authorised to collect umbilical cord blood.
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