If you are pregnant or know someone who is, please check out my column today in the Accent section of the Savannah Morning News to find out how that newborn can help save lives.

Read it by clicking here.

To find out more about Cryobanks International Inc.’s free donation program, click here.

We here @ SouthernMamas are always looking for tips about quality medical practices.

Thanks to SouthernMamas reader and expectant mom Sarah Newman for this one about OB/GYN Associates in Savannah. Sarah’s doctor, Dr. Melissa Cobb, asked Sarah if she was interested in cord blood donation when she went in for her first pregnancy visit.

This is such an important- and often overlooked – question that every pregnant woman should consider. But frequently obstetricians don’t even ask their patients if they want to donate the umbilical cord blood.

Umbilical cord blood contains stem cells that can be used to treat blood cancers, leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and about 60 other diseases.

As this ABC News article “Saving Nature’s Miracle Substance” says “As many as 10-thousand Americans each year could benefit from donated cord blood, but there is such a shortage that many while die waiting.”

Still, only a tiny fraction of mothers donate their cord blood. Usually the cord blood is thrown away or, in some cases, parents shell out big bucks to privately store the cord blood it for their child’s possible use later in life. The American Medical Association suggests that is a waste of money.

“The chances that a person would use their own cord blood to help that child are somewhere between one in 20,000, all the way up to one in 200,000,” Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke University’s Medical School says in the ABC News article.

Learn more about how to donate cord blood by clicking here.

Among the places that offer a public cord blood donation program is Cryobanks International Inc. Cryobanks will send a courier to collect cord blood from hospitals nationwide. FOR FREE! But you have to fill out paper work etc beforehand.

Donated cord blood is registered with the National Marrow Donor Registry, where it potentially can help patients and save lives. Click here for more info.

Meanwhile, kudos to OB/GYN Associates for asking patients about cord blood donation. Here’s the link for contact info to OB/GYN Associates.

Feel free to email anne@southernmamas.com about other local doctors that we should spotlight on SouthernMamas.

Experts have an important public health message for all expectant moms: Donate your infant’s umbilical cord blood to a public bank.

Donating is free. And the baby’s umbilical cord blood will be used for research and transplants to treat a variety of diseases.

Don’t pay to store it, as the likelihood of the cord blood having any benefit for your own children is essentially very low, according to researchers in this WebMD article. Cord blood from public banks has been used for more than 15,000 transplants. Whereas, cord blood stored in pricey private banks has only been used for about 60 or 70 transplants.

Many hospitals offer a cord-blood donation program. If yours doesn’t, Cryobanks International Inc., which has a public donation program, will send a courier to collect cord blood from hospitals nationwide. FOR FREE! But you have to fill out paper work etc beforehand. Click here for more info.

Because public cord donations are still not as widely done as they should be, your OB might think you’re talking about private banking and say they’ll charge a collection fee. They figure if the bank is making money, why shouldn’t they?

Which either discourages donations or makes it much more difficult. Cryobanks will intervene, if you wish, and explain to doctors that donated cord blood is registered with the National Marrow Donor Registry, where it potentially can help patients and save lives.

“Bumbo baby seats recalled because of head injuries” (Reuters)

“Five Ways To Cope With Your Child’s Food Allergies” (MSNBC)

“Freezing Eggs: A Delicate Way to Turn Back the Clock” (Star Tribune)

“Umbilical Cord Donation Helps Stem Cell Research” (Atlanta Journal & Constitution)

“Jacket Lets Parents Keep Track of Kids” (Associated Press)

“‘Choice’ explores reproductive decisions and their ramifications” (San Francisco Chronicle)