storing your baby's cord blood - coles baby club

Parents now have the opportunity to store their baby's cord blood. This blood contains stem cells that have the ability to change other types of cells and can be used to treat diseases such as leukaemia, lymphoma and various anaemias and metabolic disorders. The procedure for storing your baby's cord blood is similar to a blood donation – it's painless, and needs to be carried out within 10 to 15 minutes of birth. The blood will be taken to a public or private cord bank. If you store your baby's cord blood in a public bank, there are no fees, and the stem cells can be given to anyone who needs them. Alternatively, you can store it with a private bank. You and your partner need to decide on this before the birth.

Australia has three public cord blood banks:

Sydney(02) 9382 0371
Melbourne (03) 9345 5834
Brisbane (07) 3840 1614

Each bank has links with selected hospitals.

Australia also has three private cord blood banks:

Cryosite – 1800 220 410 or: http://cordblood.cryosite.com
BioCell Australia1800 071 075 or:http://www.biocellaustralia.com
Cell Sense1800 005 541 or: http://www.cellsense.com.au

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