ANNISTON, AL (January 2, 2017) – RMC’s littlest patients have recently become Alabama’s youngest life savers. That’s because parents of babies born at RMC in Anniston can now donate their newborn’s umbilical cord blood to LifeCord, a public FDA-licensed cord blood bank of LifeSouth Community Blood Centers.
Cord blood is rich with blood-forming stem cells that can help patients who are in need of a bone marrow transplant. Cord blood transplants have successfully treated cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, and other diseases of the bone marrow. After a patient’s diseased marrow is destroyed, the transplanted cord blood stem cells act like seeds to re-grow healthy, functioning marrow.
Cord blood offers some practical advantages over traditional adult marrow or stem cell donations. While the tissue from an adult donor must be matched with near pinpoint accuracy to a recipient, cord blood can succeed with less perfect matching. It’s also tested, frozen and ready for transplant, saving time for patients in need.
LifeCord is proud and honored that Regional Medical Center in Anniston, Alabama will join this long list of prestigious medical facilities and begin saving lives by offering public cord blood donation through LifeCord to moms in our community. In Alabama, Baptist Medical Center East, Baptist Medical Center South and Jackson Hospital, all in Montgomery, participate, along with East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika and Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham.
“There is no charge for donating, and the procedure is simple and safe,” said Stephanie Shorter, Cord Blood Coordinator for LifeCord. “Encouraging more parents to donate will further expand the use of cord blood, and more lives will be saved.”
For additional information, please contact LifeSouth at 888-795-2707 or on the web at www.lifesouth.org.