Parents Proud to Make Cord Blood Donation

 Bill and Deanna Wallace recently decided to donate the cord blood of their newborn, Vivian – and they are proud of their choice. They are the first couple to donate cord blood at the Wyoming County Community Hospital, and the Wallaces are confident that their child’s sample will make a difference in someone’s life.  

Deanna became interested in banking her child’s cord blood shortly before Vivian was born. She read an article about a 2-year-old boy who was diagnosed with a blood disease. His doctors could not find a suitable bone marrow match and used cord blood instead. The article made note of a pilot program started by Duke University, which allows parents to donate their children’s cord blood regardless of where their delivery hospital is located.  

After qualifying for the program, the couple was sent a package with everything they would need in order to collect their child’s cord blood sample and ship it back to the university. Their obstetrician, Dr. Scott Treutlein, was also required to take a test in order to certify that he would be able to successfully carry out the collection.  

“Just knowing you can donate something and it can help somebody out. That’s always a good thing”, says Bill Wallace.  

The couple is very happy with their decision to donate Vivian’s cord blood. Nurses at the hospital also applauded their decision, stating that more parents should consider doing the same.  

http://thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_05d2850a-0763-11e1-8d9c-001cc...