Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation Introduces New Brochure During Cord Blood Awareness Month to Address Critical Education Gap

7/7/09

Expectant parents are poorly informed about cord blood banking, according to a study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine. In fact, of the expectant mothers in the study who indicated they have some knowledge of cord blood banking, 74 percent considered themselves minimally informed. Yet, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences recommends that all expectant parents should be educated about cord blood stem cells early enough in pregnancy that they can make an informed decision about the options to preserve these medically-beneficial cells.

To help address this significant education gap, Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, the most comprehensive resource for expectant parents about cord blood medical research and cord blood storage options, today announced the release of a new educational brochure for expectant parents in conjunction with Cord Blood Awareness Month. The brochure has been vetted and endorsed by a scientific and medical advisory board of leading caregivers and researchers and follows the guidance of the Institute of Medicine.

The brochure can be downloaded at no cost from the foundation’s home page: ParentsGuideCordBlood.org. It has been translated into several languages, including Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, and Hebrew, with more translations in progress.

“Cord blood stem cells are an increasingly important medical resource for saving lives,” said Frances Verter, Ph.D., founder of Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation. “This brochure is intended to ensure that more pregnant women have the opportunity to consider saving their newborn’s cord blood for family use or donating the cord blood to others who may have a critical medical need. I want all women to understand why cord blood should be preserved and why allowing these cells to be thrown away as medical waste should be a last choice option.”

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