LifeSouth Community Blood Centers Celebrates National Cord Blood Awareness Month in July
Non-profit community blood bank aims to bring awareness toward cord blood donation, share how mothers can give life twice.
Every day, mothers around the world donate their umbilical cord blood in an effort to save lives. LifeSouth Community Blood Centers Cord Blood Bank (part of LifeSouth Community Blood Centers) is dedicated to raising awareness about cord blood donation in celebration of National Cord Blood Awareness Month. LifeSouth is the first cord blood bank in the Southeast, and the fifth nationwide, to provide transfusable cord blood products that are licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and continues to be a leader in this growing healthcare field.
Umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells, which can be used in treatment of many diseases and disorders. Cord blood transplants can help treat more than 80 blood cancers, genetic diseases and immune system and metabolic disorders, including leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia. It has surpassed bone marrow as a source for stem cells in transplants. To date, more than 40,000 patients have received cord blood transplants since the procedure was first performed in 1988.
“Each donation has the chance to be someone else’s hope to survive,” said Luis Hernandez, Director of Cellular Therapies for LifeSouth Cord Blood Bank. “Every donation matters and is an opportunity for the mom to give life twice.”
Mothers delivering at local hospitals may have the option to donate their umbilical cord blood to LifeSouth. During a cord blood donation, a medical professional collects the stem cell-rich blood from the umbilical cord after delivery. The process is painless for both the mother and child. There is no fee associated with donating cord blood.
Once a donation has been received and tested, it is securely stored by LifeSouth and added to the National Marrow Donor Program’s Be the Match® Registry – the largest and most diverse donor registry in the world. LifeSouth Community Blood Centers Cord Blood Bank is accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT).
For more information and to find a partnering hospital, visit lifesouth.org/cord-blood-bank.
LifeSouth is proud to partner with the following hospitals to collect lifesaving cord blood:
Alabama
Baptist Medical Center East
Baptist Medical Center South
Brookwood Medical Center
East Alabama Medical Center
USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital
Jackson Hospital
Regional Medical Center
Mobile Infirmary
Thomas Hospital
UAB Medicine
Grandview Medical Center
Florida
HCA Florida North Florida Hospital
UF Health Shands Hospital
Baptist Medical Center South
UF Health Jacksonville
UF Health North
Georgia
Piedmont Henry Hospital
South Georgia Medical Center
St. Francis-Emory Healthcare
