Cord Blood Partnership Saves Lives

A generous gift from the Cleveland Cord Blood Center allows Piedmont Atlanta Hospital to offer parents an opportunity to make a potentially lifesaving donation of their newborn baby’s umbilical cord blood.

The Cleveland Cord Blood Center (CCBC) is a public umbilical cord blood bank whose mission is advancing umbilical cord blood cell therapy treatments: saving lives, enhancing health, and expanding knowledge one birth at a time. The Center fulfills its mission by collaborating with hospitals in areas with diverse genetic and ethnic populations and funding the hospitals’ umbilical cord donation programs. Because there are not enough cord blood matches at public banks for African Americans and Hispanics who need treatment, donations made by African American and Hispanic parents can help fill a critical need.

Cord blood, the small amount of blood left in the umbilical cord after a child’s birth, is rich in stem cells, which contain the basic building blocks of blood cells and the body’s immune system. Cord blood cells have proven to be an effective option in the treatment of leukemia and other metabolic diseases, and research is being done to explore its use in treating numerous other medical conditions such as diabetes, degenerative diseases and autism.

Lori Walker, Director of Women’s Services at Piedmont Atlanta, states, "The Cleveland Cord Blood Center grant has provided the opportunity for cord blood donation through staffing and resources. This is an extremely valuable service that can save lives! Healthy blood-forming cells can be stored and later used by a patient who needs them. The availability of the Cleveland Cord Blood program at Piedmont gives parents the option to donate their newborn’s cord blood in hopes of finding a match for a recipient cancer patient."

Funding from the CCBC covers costs associated with collecting, transporting and storing cord blood, making the donation process free to patients at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. Last year, there were 1,030 cord blood donations for a total of 14,802 since we began our partnership with the Cleveland Cord Blood Center.

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