July is National Cord Blood Awareness Month

In recognition of Cord Blood Awareness Month, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center is reminding members that it offers a Cord Blood Collection program for expectant mothers.

The medical center announced that it is participating in California’s Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program, which allows mothers of newborns to donate their babies’ umbilical cord blood and have it publicly banked.Cord blood is the blood that remains in the placenta and umbilical cord after a baby is born, which researchers say holds promise as an important source of stem cells that could be used for potential medical therapies and treatments.

“Los Angeles Medical Center is honored to be a pioneer in this program which provides an easy and convenient way for mothers to potentially help save the lives of so many people who suffer from a multitude of disorders,” said Gladys Loera, MD, Director of Labor and Delivery, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. “With the city of Los Angeles being one of the most racially diverse cities in the country, having a public collection program here will be extremely beneficial to our nation’s supply of cord blood.”

Cord blood is used to treat a variety of diseases, ranging from anemia to cancers of the blood, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Cord blood is also an important alternative to bone marrow for transplantation because it is rich in blood-forming stem cells and does not require as close a match between the donor and recipient as bone marrow.

Dr. Robert Cooper, Pediatrics Oncologist, Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center was acutely aware of the need for an increased pool of matched unrelated donors for bone marrow transplants when he brought the program to the attention of Kaiser Permanente leadership.

“Kaiser Permanente’s integrated care system with such a high level of coordinated care along with our ethnically diverse membership made us a perfect organization to develop a cord blood collection program,” said Dr. Cooper. “Our goal is to expand the diversity of publicly available cord blood by making it easy to donate and at no cost to the mother.”

Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center joined less than a dozen hospitals in Southern California where mothers have the option to donate their umbilical cord blood for public banking when the program was launched last September. During that time, Brenda Ulloa was excited to be their first patient to donate her baby’s cord blood.

“When you donate, it’s a good feeling,” said Ulloa. “Right now my kids are healthy but we don’t know what could happen. If the shoe was on the other foot and my child became ill, I would be grateful if someone could help me with cord blood.”

Cord blood units collected at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center are sent to the public cord blood bank StemCyte, where they are screened for genetic characterizations and infectious diseases before being stored and entered into the National Registry. The team at the Medical Center also educates Kaiser Permanente members about the benefits of umbilical cord blood donations.

Collecting and storing of cord blood can be costly if done privately. Because of the cord blood collection program, there is no cost to the mothers who wish to donate their newborn’s cord blood.