1000th Cord Blood Donation Collected

Birmingham Women’s recently celebrated an incredible milestone as the 1000th Cord Blood Donation was collected by the Anthony Nolan Cord Blood Donation Team. This means that as of 19th June this year, 1000 women have donated their cord blood to help save someone’s life since the service was set up in July 2012. 

Our 1000th donor was Lyndsay Barratt who gave birth to daughter Eva on the 19th June.

After a baby is born, the umbilical cord and placenta are usually thrown away as clinical waste. But the stem cells found inside can be used in lifesaving transplants for people with diseases such as leukaemia and lymphoma.

Birmingham Women’s Hospital is one of five hospitals in the UK where women can donate their umbilical cord blood to Anthony Nolan’s public bank.

One of our trained collectors safely collects the cord and placenta and extract the blood. All this happens after a baby is born and in no way interferes with a Mum and her new baby. In fact, most mothers tell us they didn’t even notice it happening!

Midwife and Cord Blood Collection Co-ordinator, Fatma Hatimy explained, “ Whilst we are delighted that we have achieved the 1000 milestone and within the 1st year of collecting, this is more than a celebration of numbers, it’s a celebration of the goodwill of women, their families and the team here at the Women’s that enable us to collect the cord blood.”

The Cord Blood Collection Service was set up in partnership with Anthony Nolan, the Blood Cancer Charity in July 2012. Women are able to consent to donate when they receive their antenatal care at Birmingham Women’s Hospital. Babies born to donating women now receive a ‘born lifesaver’ t shirt provided by Anthony Nolan.

For further details about Anthony Nolan and donating cord blood, please visit www.anthonynolan.org