Bloodworks Northwest Cord Blood Program

1. See if you meet the donor eligibility requirements:
   • Donors must be carrying one baby (no twins or triplets).
   • Donor must be at least 18 years of age.
   • Pregnancies must be at least 37 weeks gestation at the time of delivery.
   • No blood cell disorders or cancers in the baby’s immediate family (including baby’s parents and siblings).
2. See if your hospital is a participating collection site:
   • Swedish Medical Center (First Hill and Issaquah)
   • EvergreenHealth Medical Center – Kirkland, WA
   • Overlake Medical Center – Bellevue, WA
3. If your hospital is a participating collection site, let the labor and delivery team know you are donating the umbilical cord to the public cord blood bank through Bloodworks Cord Blood Donation Program. You will need to sign a consent form.

Please note:  Either before the birth of your baby or after, you will be asked for a blood sample to be tested for infectious diseases. This blood is taken only from you, not your baby.

After delivery the umbilical cord, ready to be discarded, is drained of the blood and stem cells.  This collection is performed by a trained cord blood collector using a needle and collection bag similar to blood collection.

Cord blood donation is when blood from a clamped and cut cord, instead of being thrown away, is saved for potential stem cell transplant.

Consent happens with the Cord Blood collectors before birth.

After the cord blood unit is collected by a trained cord blood donation collector, it is transported to the Cord Blood Program at Bloodworks Northwest at our downtown Seattle location.

Cord blood units are de-identified to protect confidentiality and then unit evaluated for banking criteria (weight, volume, number of cells).

The stem cells that are isolated and which meet the banking requirements are frozen in liquid nitrogen with a protectant and stored until the unit is needed for transplant.

Because of the low numbers of registered bone marrow donors of color and their genetic diversity, non-Caucasian ethnic groups have low likelihood of finding a match.  For instance, African American patience have less than a 20% chance of finding a match.  Cord blood transplantation offers a solution for people who do not have a bone marrow match.

Yes!  When following the ACOG recommendations for cord clamping, your provider can still collect the umbilical cord for subsequent cord blood donation.

• Swedish Medical Center (First Hill and Issaquah)
• EvergreenHealth Medical Center – Kirkland, WA
• Overlake Medical Center – Bellevue, WA
• Valley Medical Center – Renton, WA
• UW Medical Center – Montlake – Seattle, WA