The birth of a baby holds with it a miracle most parents aren’t aware of--the ability to save a life. 

Did you know that with further research and an efficient banking system, more than 100 million Americans and 2 billion people worldwide suffering from diseases could potentially be treated or cured?

What is Cord Blood?
Cord blood is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta and are collected only after the birth of a healthy baby.

Benefits of cord blood
Cord blood cells are a source of treatment for patients with cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma who lack a bone marrow donor. Cord blood also has tremendous promise for regenerating diseased or injured organs, including heart muscle, bone and spinal cord tissue.

One of the advantages of cord blood is that the donor/recipient match does not have to be as perfect as it does for bone marrow and circulating blood. Since cord blood is stored frozen it is available for use as soon as a matched product is identified.

Public donation or private bank?
Deciding whether to donate cord blood for public use or store it for private use is a personal decision. Your options for using cord blood include: 

• Storing your baby’s cord blood in a public bank for public use to be transplanted into any patient that is considered a match. There is no cost to you because public cord blood banks cover the cost of processing, testing and storing donated cord blood.
• Storing your baby’s cord blood in a private bank, which allows you to store the cord blood for your own family. You are charged a fee for the initial collection plus an annual storage fee.
• Donating the cord blood for research studies. Research laboratories and technology companies conduct studies to help improve the transplant process for future patients, and to discover new ways to use the cells to help repair damaged organs.

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Here's to Your Health - Cord Blood

Cord Blood Bank of Arkansas
At UAMS, we have one of the largest adult blood cell transplant centers in the country. The Cord Blood Bank of Arkansas will link with national and international networks of cord blood banks that supply these life-saving cells for transplant and research all over the world.