Cord blood question.

[Tiffa130]

I don't have the money to store the blood personally but I would like to donate it instead.

My sister in law was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gerhig's disease) less than a year ago and she's dieing fast.

I wanted to know if anyone else has donated cord blood? Is it possible to request it go to ALS research? Or is it just a general donation? I'm okay with either but it would mean so much to her if we could donate it in her honor.

 

[MajorBee]

Hi hon, I know you can donate in the UK but no idea about Canada. Might be a good idea to ask your midwife - or is there an ALS charity who might be able to give advice? I'm planning on donating too, but having sorted out the details yet! Good luck, it's a great idea.

 

[rayasunshine]

Honestly the best thing to do for your baby is to let the cord stay attached until it stops pulsing, that way they get all of that blood (some of which comes out of them during labor) and it helps them so much later in life.

 

[lisaf]

even if you wait until the cord stops pulsing, you can still get some blood from the cord. Usually its not enough to donate for someone to use for treatment, but for research purposes they don't have the same strict quantity requirements.
A detailed list of some banks in Canada
https://parentsguidecordblood.org/content/usa/banklists/listcanada.shtml?navid=19
Some of them look like they do research also or mention if the volume is below the amount required for storage then parents will be advised of options (probably means the parents can choose to donate for research).
I'm not sure if any of those are free banks though, but you could call a few and see?

Anyway that site has tons of useful information also and lots of lists for other countries.

 

[Ember]

That is a great resource, lisaf! And I hadn't even thought about donating the cord blood if we can't afford to save it. I am definitely going to look into it, myself too.