Cord blood donor program sought

LEWISTON – An expectant mother is leading an effort in Maine to give women the option of donating their baby’s umbilical cord blood to a public blood program.

Michelle DeBlois said the cost of saving the cord and placenta blood, which can be used for stem cell transplants to treat leukemia and other life-threatening diseases, is prohibitive for most women.

The initial costs for shipping, testing and freezing a sample can range from $250 to $1,500, and annual storage fees can range from $50 to $100.

DeBlois has asked Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston if they would be interested in forming a partnership with an out-of-state public bank.

There are about a dozen of these banks in the United States. Most of them only collect blood from hospitals in their areas, but DeBlois hopes to convince one of them to take blood samples from Maine.

Dr. Moira Shanahan, an obstetrician-gynecologist at CMMC, said few women ask to store their cells. Unless a woman has someone in her family with a disease that requires a stem cell transplant, she said, she usually doesn’t consider it.

“Part of it has to do with the cost,” Shanahan said. “The other part comes with educating people on the procedure.”

By forming a collaboration with a public donation bank, hospitals here could give women the option of making their cord blood available to anyone in the world who is searching for a stem cell match, DeBlois said.

Officials at both CMMC and St. Mary’s say they are interested in working with DeBlois to develop a plan, but they are concerned about the costs involved.