The national cord blood donor program is expanding across Canada with the Women's Hospital British Columbia in Vancouver becoming the last cord blood collection site. Canadian Blood Services, the principal architects of the donor program, encourage as many new mothers and await possible to make a donation of cord blood of their baby.
The cord blood is found in the umbilical cord at birth, and is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells. These cells from cord blood stem are a potential source of therapy for blood disorders such as leukemia or lymphoma, with the potential of medical testing cord blood tests to treat genetic disorders such as Alzheimer's disease .
The donor program will be easier for Canadians in need of a stem cell transplant to find viable donors, especially minorities and people of mixed heritage. Mothers may also their baby's cord blood bank in family facilities which also store cord blood samples, but especially for families to use if the need arises.
With the population of Canada one of the most ethnically diverse in the world, families should benefit more from private banking own cord blood of their babies rather than giving the sample.
one hand, banks family, except as much as 98 percent of cord blood samples collected. Choosing this option virtually guarantees your baby cord blood is available whenever the situation demands
Moreover, the donor program discards as much as half of the samples taken because of medical problems
family cord blood banks are also in partnership with many hospitals across the country, while the donor program is limited to facilities in the program
This makes it harder for the donor system to match cord blood samples for patients in need of transplants, especially the minority population of Canada
the donor cord blood program is a excellent awareness campaign to help Canadians learn more about the potential benefits of cord blood banking. With this knowledge, as well as information describing the differences between family and donor cord blood banks, families can make the best decisions for the welfare of the future of their own children.