Usually, the placenta and umbilical cord are thrown away. And our cord programme is here to make them lifesaving!
A history of the Anthony Nolan Cord Blood Programme
- 2007: First mum to donate cord blood at King's College Hospital
- 2012: First stem cell transplant using cord blood
- Over 301 stem cell transplants have used cord blood since 2012
- Over 4,000 mums donate their cord blood every year
- 2022: 67,000 mothers have donated their cord blood since 2007!
In September 2013 I was told that, despite a worldwide search of the donor registers, they’d had no luck finding me a match. But they explained that they had found two umbilical cords that were sufficient matches and they were going to use this method. It was such a relief, as I was running out of options.
Nilush, who had a cord transplant in 2013
What happens to the cord blood?
After we collect your baby’s cord blood, we store it in our cord blood bank until it’s needed for a patient.
Why is cord blood so important?
Unlike with adult stem cell donors, the donated cord blood doesn’t even need to be an exact match for a patient! The stem cells in cord blood aren’t mature, so can develop to suit their recipient.
Cord blood can be a great option for people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, who it can be harder to find a match for on the stem cell register.
If we can’t collect enough cord blood for transplant, we can use it for research. Researchers are working tirelessly to understand the different properties of cord blood, which will help us to ensure stem cell transplants are more effective than ever. Your baby can still help to save lives!
Research is also being undertaken to create new therapies for other conditions such as strokes, heart attacks, and brain injury. Cell and gene therapy offers targeted treatment for all types of diseases with huge promise to treat and potentially cure those that until recently had no treatment options.
You can find out detailed information about donating your cord blood here.
Where can I donate?
We can currently collect cord blood from five hospitals in the UK:
- King’s College Hospital, London
- Saint Mary’s Hospital, Manchester
- Saint Mary's Hospital, Wythenshawe (Manchester)
- Leicester Royal Infirmary
- Leicester General Hospital
It costs thousands of pounds to establish a new cord blood centre, so we need to focus our funding in the most effective way. We know that lots of babies are born at these five hospitals every year, and that these areas have a diverse population. We need to make sure our cord blood bank is as ethnically diverse as possible, so more people have more chances of finding a lifesaving match.
If you’re pregnant and planning to give birth in one of our cord collection hospitals, and are interested in cord blood donation, you can register to donate now!