The benefits of cord blood.

In the delivery room new moms can double the rewards of childbirth, by bringing a new life into the world and saving another. Since 1988, doctors have transplanted stem cells taken from umbilical cords and placentas of newborns into patients suffering from leukemia, various inherited immune and metabolic disorders, and other conditions that alternatively might have been treated with a bone marrow transplant. Getting the word out to mothers about the benefits of cord blood is critical to the success of cord blood banking, and policymakers across the country are helping to spread the news.

Families who consider whether to bank their babies' cord blood have two options: private and public banking. Through private banking, cord blood is stored solely for a family's future use. At a public bank, cord blood is donated for the use of anyone in need.

Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Virginia and Wisconsin have laws that require either hospitals or physicians to inform pregnant women of the option to donate umbilical cord blood, according to Cord Blood Registry. Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and Virginia have created education and awareness programs to inform the public and doctors.

In areas where hospitals do not have a nearby bank to send the collected samples, families may not have the option to donate cord blood to a public bank, at least not without significant effort. Missouri, New Jersey and Texas have state funds to create and support public cord blood banks. New Jersey also has funded an additional cord blood bank in which donated cord blood is being used for research.

The federal government also supports public banks, and state and federal efforts are coordinated through the federally funded national registry currently administered by the National Marrow Donor Program.