New mothers urged to donate cord blood at birth

Initiative aims to assist bone marrow recipients

By Malka Eisenberg

Issue of Sept. 19, 2008

A campaign to encourage expectant mothers to donate cord blood on the day of delivery is being led by the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation and the Bikur Cholim of Borough Park and is seeking rabbinic and community support.

When the umbilical cord is cut after birth, the blood that is left in the cord and in the placenta is generally discarded. This blood is rich in stem cells and important for its use in treating some blood-based cancers. Transplants using such cells do not need to match donors as closely as other transplants.

Donating cord blood has “no effect on the health” of the mother or infant, it has “no downside,” said Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman of Woodmere, associate professor of emergency medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University. “It is a gold mine of potential to help others, it would go to waste otherwise. It would be a tragedy to squander it. Every expectant mother should be enrolled.”

Jay Feinberg, founder and executive director of Gift of Life, launched the “Roeh Es HaNolad” campaign several months ago. The name means to anticipate the future, but is also a play on the Hebrew word nolad, meaning birth or newborn.

Feinberg has been meeting with leading rabbis to determine, “what to do to reach out to mothers in the community,” explained Sherrie Kesselman, his executive assistant.

In his meetings, Feinberg is stressing that cord blood donations could possibly save up to 20 percent of Jews who need bone marrow transplants but could find no other match. The cord blood program was initiated in obstetricians’ offices in Borough Park; when it was well received by mothers and other obstetricians, it was expanded to a “walk-in” arrangement at Maimonides Medical Center there. This enabled expectant mothers to donate their cord blood on the day of delivery.

“Two of our coordinators are on site in Maimonides signing people up to agree to donate when they deliver,” said Kesselman. “They have a mobile unit with the paper work.”

Although the Gift of Life is currently focusing the collecting efforts at Maimonides, “Jay’s intention is to reach out to many more communities to get them on board,” noted Kesselman. “We are focusing on the Jewish community and creating a medical resource within the Jewish community, a place where people can turn to if they need cord blood.”

The significance and potential of cord blood has been known since the 1980s when private banking of cord blood –– at considerable cost –– became available. Public cord banks are now accepting donations. The Gift of Life’s bank is covered by donations. Donated blood is available for anyone’s use. If the donor were to need it and the blood is still there, it would be made available to them.

“We tell the donor upfront that it can potentially be used by someone else,” Kesselman added.