Hospital Newsletter

Resumption of cord blood banking 

Canadian Blood Services is excited to share that cord blood banking resumed on Oct. 17, 2022, following a temporary suspension due to a global shortage of cord blood processing kits. The kits, essential to our national public cord blood bank, are used to separate and process the stem cells in cord blood units before storage.

During the suspension, we continued to collect umbilical cord blood for quality assurance activities such as training, validation and product/process improvement, and for our Cord Blood for Research Program. Now, the availability of kits allows us to resume collecting cord blood stem cells for transplant.

When parents donate cord blood, they never know whose life they might save — or the many ways that person will go on to support family and friends, chase their dreams or help their community. They could graduate sixth grade with a spirit award, or pursue a passion for theatre. Parents and their little miracle won’t just make a difference, they’ll make all the difference.

Donors from all ethnic backgrounds are encouraged to donate cord blood. A diverse public cord blood bank means we have better chances of finding a matching donor for a patient in need. Parents-to-be can register to donate cord blood at our designated hospitals in Vancouver, B.C., Edmonton, Alta., and the Ontario cities of Ottawa and Brampton.

Eligible individuals between the ages of 17 and 35 could be a rare match for a patient in need of a stem cell transplant. We encourage individuals who are healthy and between that age bracket to join the stem cell registry online.