St. Francis Hospital has partnered with the Brady Kohn Foundation to help preserve umbilical cord blood, which can be used to treat a wide variety of diseases.
Umbilical cord blood contains young, immature stem cells, which have a much greater ability than adult stem cells to adapt to the kinds of cells needed in a sick person's body.
Under the new program, announced Monday, June 22, all women giving birth at the hospital will be given the option to donate their baby's cord blood at no cost.
The Brady Kohn Foundation is named for a 2 1/2 year-old-old local boy who died in 2002 when he was unable to get a cord blood transplant soon enough.
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3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ST. FRANCIS' CORD BLOOD DONATION 1) Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells which can be used to treat more than 70-life threatening diseases, including many cancers and blood disorders. 2) Donating it is harmless and painless to mother and child. It is a byproduct of birth that is usually discarded. 3) St. Francis Hospital births 1,000 babies every year. |
