Right now in the U.S., 40,000 adults and children are waiting for a bone marrow transplant. Tens of thousands of children are suffering from sickle-cell anemia. Thousands more are struggling to survive rare inherited diseases.

And every 8 minutes, a potential cure for their disease is thrown in the garbage. How is this possible?

Umbilical cord blood — a rich, non-controversial source of stem cells and a cure for more than 70 life-threatening diseases — is not recognized or valued as the life-saving treatment option that it is. Research is also uncovering cord blood’s potential in treating brain injury, cerebral palsy and juvenile diabetes, as well as regenerating tissue and repairing organs.

Despite its proven success and incredible potential, 95% of all cord blood is treated as medical waste.
  
Women are not informed of the value of their cord blood, and do not know that they have a choice in preserving it. Leukemia patients who cannot find a bone marrow match are routinely sent home to die because their physician did not know that cord blood is a treatment option for their disease.  

This must change. Please join Save the Cord Foundation in making cord blood preservation accessible to all expectant parents, and cord blood widely available for treatment and research.

Save the Cord Foundation is working to:
• Educate every expectant parent about the value of their baby’s cord blood;
• Make donating to a public bank easier;
• Make private/family banking more accessible through insurance coverage;
• Increase funding for research and public banking;
• Increase availability of cord blood for transplants and research

With enough voices behind us, we can make every cord count. By joining Save the Cord Foundation you can help us educate expectant women with cord blood to bank, the physicians who can collect it, and the patients whose lives can be saved.