The Hospital says that umbilical cord blood has a plethora of cells that make blood which can be used to treat such illnesses as leukemia and lymphoma as an alternative to waiting for a bone marrow transplant, which could take years or never come at all.

Midland Memorial Hospital is now the 12th to join the Texas Cord Blood Bank, which collects and stores cord blood.

The great thing about storing blood through the hospital is that its completely free to donate your baby’s stem cells where other storage facilities charge a lot of money to extract and store the cord blood.

The umbilical cord used to be thrown away when a baby was born.  But these days, blood from the umbilical cord can be collected after your baby’s birth and donated to a public cord blood bank to help someone with a life-threatening disease!

Donating is a simple thing to do. Receiving can be the gift of life.

If you were to choose to donate your child’s umbilical cord blood, your labor and delivery are not affected at all. No blood is taken from your baby or yourself, only from the umbilical cord itself once your baby is born.

Get information to help you make an informed decision

• Cord blood is changing lives today – Learn about how umbilical cord blood offers hope
• Options for cord blood – Understand your options for donation
• Cord blood donation FAQs – Find answers to your questions about umbilical cord blood donation

Learn how to donate your Umbilical Cord Blood

• How to donate cord blood – A step-by-step overview of the donation process, including your role, how cord blood is collected in the hospital and what happens at the public cord blood bank to your umbilical cord blood.
• Learn if you can donate – See medical eligibility guidelines for donation. Some people can and some can’t.
• Where to donate – Find out if your hospital works with a public cord blood bank and whether there is a public bank in your city

NMDP commitment to cord blood donation

For 20 years, the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) has matched people (donors) and patients to facilitate bone marrow transplants and help save lives. Today, the NMDP is dedicated to partnering with cord blood banks all around the world to build a strong network and inventory of high-quality cord blood units available to any patient who needs a transplant.

In 2006, the NMDP was selected by the U.S. federal government to operate the nation’s Cord Blood Coordinating Center. We are conducting a research study on cord blood transplantation and patient outcomes. (Learn more about our network of banks in the United States — listed in Where to Donate — as well as international cord blood registries.)

The umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells. The umbilical cord blood can save the lives of millions of people who suffer from dreaded disease such as Cancer, Aplastic anemia, Fanconi anemia and Sickle-cell anemia, just to name a few. People suffering from live threatening diseases like lymphoma, leukemia and anemia can save their precious lives by undergoing stem cell transplantation. This is especially useful for people suffering from leukemia who go through the tough process of chemotherapy and radiation.

There are specialized cord blood banks to collect and preserve umbilical cord blood. The blood is collected from a new-born baby’s cord and stored in these cord banks. Parent donor’s are required to plan to make necessary arrangements with these banks to collect the umbilical cord blood.

It is not only a joy to give birth to a baby but also a great deed to give life by donating umbilical cord blood to those suffering from life threatening diseases.