Donating cord blood at Shady Grove?

umdbride

does anyone know if/how I can donate cord blood or good sites for researching donation options if I'm delivering at Shady Grove?  unfortunately the hospital doesn't have any programs or information on donating.  googling turns up so much i'm not sure what's legit or available at Shady Grove. 

 TIA!

hollace

You know, I have looked into the , briefly mind you, and noticed that the only hospital in the DC region that seems to do cord blood donating is INOVA.  That really surprised me as Holy Cross and SGAH also birth a lot of babies.  The only other thing that crossed my mind was either asking your OB about it or maybe asking someone that does a birthing class for SGAH or other locals hospitals in the region.  I was disappointed to see the lack of hospitals in the region that participate for many reasons including the fact that if you donate your babies cord blood and for whatever reason (God forbid) you find yourself needing cord blood in the future, you will have access to the national registry for having donated your own for use.

hollace

https://www.marrow.org/HELP/Donate_Cord_Blood_Share_Life/How_to_Donate_Cord_Blood/CB_Participating_Hospitals/nmdp_cord_blood_hospitals.pl?src=Where_Cord

umdbride

Thanks - I'll definitely look into the link.  I asked both my midwife and the teacher of the childbirth class i'm taking at shady grove.  My midwife said she wasn't sure but was going to look into it as it is something she'd like to know more about for all her patients.  the class instructor on the other hand basically said it's too expensive for hospitals to do for donating to the national registry so right now unless a research institution is paying the cost to collect the cord blood from the hospital (and then it would be used for research rather than to help sick kids), the hospital itself isn't doing anything to collect or donate it.  I didn't particularly like her answer so I wanted to look into it myself.  even if it can be used for research that's better than nothing I figure...

victoria1212

I donated our cord blood at Sibley (which was not on the list either) and it was super simple. I used the National Bone Marrow Registry (www.marrow.org)- you need to have all your paperwork filled out by 32 weeks (I think if not before) and they will send you a fedex box and a collection kit. My doctor handled the collection and waived all the fees and then we just had to call to let them know to send the fedex driver. It was super easy! And it is a great thing to do.

Edit- I just saw your ticker and I think it is too late for you to use the National Bone Marrow registry.

hollace

victoria1212:

I donated our cord blood at Sibley (which was not on the list either) and it was super simple. I used the National Bone Marrow Registry (www.marrow.org)- you need to have all your paperwork filled out by 32 weeks (I think if not before) and they will send you a fedex box and a collection kit. My doctor handled the collection and waived all the fees and then we just had to call to let them know to send the fedex driver. It was super easy! And it is a great thing to do.

Edit- I just saw your ticker and I think it is too late for you to use the National Bone Marrow registry.

 

So did your donation go to research or to the actual cord blood database?  Just curious as I would like to do it and I don't really care whether it's for research or treatment but as I was reading the webpage I got the sense that it would be for research purposes only.

 

mek10976

We just did our tour of SGH yesterday and were told that if you wanted to donate cord blood, INOVA Fairfax is the only one that will do it, but you have to deliver there.  Another option was to research surrounding states; Deleware, PA, etc. to see if they accept donations and will send a courier to pick up the blood.

umdbride

I've been researching (since I'm on bedrest anyway!) and the National Marrow Registry said there are four banks across the country that often send couriers to pick up donations at hospitals even if they aren't nearby. I've left messages for all of them and will keep you posted.  She said most need you to sign up by 34 weeks, but I figure I'll still try to find out and donate - even if I miss the cutoff maybe one of you can use the info and I can pass it along to my midwife and the childbirth class instructor.

victoria1212

hollace:

victoria1212:

I donated our cord blood at Sibley (which was not on the list either) and it was super simple. I used the National Bone Marrow Registry (www.marrow.org)- you need to have all your paperwork filled out by 32 weeks (I think if not before) and they will send you a fedex box and a collection kit. My doctor handled the collection and waived all the fees and then we just had to call to let them know to send the fedex driver. It was super easy! And it is a great thing to do.

Edit- I just saw your ticker and I think it is too late for you to use the National Bone Marrow registry.

 

So did your donation go to research or to the actual cord blood database?  Just curious as I would like to do it and I don't really care whether it's for research or treatment but as I was reading the webpage I got the sense that it would be for research purposes only.

 

It has been a while but I think we were told we would be entered into the database (DH and I also swabbed our cheeks to be included) and our cord blood would be registered as a potential match for someone but there was potential it would be used for research.

We were fine with either. There are plenty of diseases that need to be researched and since our family has been impacted by MS, Lupus, cancer and other things- we thought it was really important.