The cord blood donation process
You've planned everything: the bedroom, the stroller, the onesies. All your thoughts are focused on the child who will soon be joining your family. But did you know that giving birth is also an opportunity to donate your cord blood? When you donate cord blood after the delivery of your baby, it's like giving life, and saving another life.
The registration process
You’re ready! You made the decision to donate your umbilical cord blood. That’s great! Registering with the Public Cord Blood Bank is very simple: check that you meet the eligibility criteria, read the Consent to Donate Cord Blood below and, finally, complete the registration form.
Consent to donate cord blood
Registration form
The qualification process
Between the 28th and 36th weeks of your pregnancy, a member of Héma-Québec's staff will contact you to ask you some medical questions. This medical questionnaire, which lasts about 15 minutes, is designed to ensure the safety of the person who will receive your cord blood.
Childbirth and donation
The long awaited day! Your baby is nestled in your arms, and everyone is doing well. Once the umbilical cord is cut, the blood left in the cord is carefully collected by your delivery doctor. It takes only 3 to 5 minutes and most donors say afterwards that they were barely aware of the process at all.
After donation: evaluation of the donation
The cord blood collected is sent to Héma-Québec's Public Cord Blood Bank for evaluation.
If the cord blood sample meets the Bank's standards, it is frozen and stored. A member of Héma-Québec's staff will contact you in the days following your donation to ask you to complete a qualification questionnaire and take a blood sample.
Contribute to research
If your cord blood donation does not qualify to be banked, it is still valuable because it could be used for research purposes, if you consent to it when you register.
Demystifying cord blood donation
There is absolutely no risk to you or your baby during the cord blood collection procedure.
There's no need to worry: your cord blood is collected with the utmost respect for your privacy. We encourage mothers to register their intention to donate in their birth plan. It's a small gesture of great generosity, and most donors say afterwards that they didn't notice a thing!