Pregnancy must be full-term, uncomplicated and a result of a single birth. The mother should be in labor for less than 24 hours, and the infant should weigh at least 5 pounds and be free of birth defects. Immediately after delivery, the placenta and umbilical cord are taken for removal of blood. The blood is collected by trained Red Cross staff, tested for infectious diseases, DNA-typed and stored for future need. After cord blood is collected, it is stored in a cryogenic freezer at 196 degrees below zero.
Liquid nitrogen is used to freeze the blood.
They were to be transplanted in a Hodgkin's disease patient in Minnesota and a bladder-cancer patient in Massachusetts. Those who worked to bring cord-blood donation to Columbus are elated. The frustration was, we were all dressed up and nowhere to go,'' said Dr. Ambrose T. Ng, executive director of blood services for the central Ohio region of the Red Cross. The matches come at a time of growing medical applications for cord blood, he said. The two cords that we supplied this week are going to be used in ways that Dr. Ng and I never envisioned,'' said Lasky, who was instrumental in developing the public bank in Columbus, called Ross Cord Bank.