New hospital added to cord blood bank

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June 24, 2008 - 12:03 AM

Valley Freedom Newspapers

EDINBURG - Doctors Hospital at Renaissance is the newest Rio Grande Valley hospital to begin collecting umbilical cord blood for the Texas Cord Blood Bank.

The hospital joins Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen and Valley Baptist-Brownsville, which have participated in the program since 2006. Eight South Texas hospitals donate to the public blood bank, which is a division of South Texas Blood & Tissue Center in San Antonio.

Cord blood, which is extracted from the umbilical cord and placenta after birth, often is rich in stem cells, or cells that have not yet differentiated. These cells can produce many other types of blood cells, and therefore can be used to treat leukemia, lymphoma and blood disorders, doctors say.

Umbilical cord blood is collected after the birth of a healthy baby. If the mother consents, about one cup of blood is extracted from the baby's umbilical cord or placenta.

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