BehindTheMedspeak: Free Cord Blood Banking

Normally it costs $1,000-$2,000 for the initial banking and about $100/year for storage and maintenance.

Now comes Catherine Claeys of the National Marrow Donor Program in Minneapolis with the following letter published in yesterday's Washington Post Health Section.

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Free Cord-Blood Banking

Banking umbilical cord blood is useful when there is a sibling with a diagnosed medical condition that could be treated with a transplant of cord blood from the new baby ["Study Questions Value of Private Cord-Blood Banks," April 14].

A program recently implemented by the National Marrow Donor Program and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration offers these families the opportunity to have the cord blood of a new baby collected and stored at no cost. The cord blood may then be used to treat the sibling with a disease such as leukemia, lymphoma, a sickle cell disorder, an immune deficiency or a metabolic disease. An estimated 5,000 families could benefit from the Related Donor Cord Blood Program each year.

Additional information and resources about the program and public banking can be found at www.bethematch.org/cord.