Paula Grisanti, Opinion contributor Published 6:20 a.m. ET Nov. 9, 2020

This year, Nov.17 has been designated World Cord Blood Day, an annual event to raise awareness for the life-saving benefits of cord blood transplants while educating parents, health professionals and the general public about the need to preserve these precious cells.

Cord blood transplants are being used to treat more than 80 different diseases and conditions including blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, neuroblastoma (the most common cancer in infants), bone-marrow failure disorders, inherited blood disorders and rare immune system disorders. They are also showing new promise for conditions that have never had treatment options, like autism and brain injury.

The first cord blood stem cell transplant, an international effort between physicians in the U.S. and Europe, was performed in France in 1988. Stem cells collected from a newborns umbilical cord blood were used to save the life of her brother, a 5-year-old with Fanconi Anemia. Since then, there have been more than 40,000 cord blood transplants performed worldwide.

Now standard of care for cancers of the blood and a host of other life-threatening diseases, blood forming stem cells for transplantation can be collected from bone marrow, circulating bloodor a newborn babys umbilical cord blood. Some experts believe cord blood contains nearly 10 times the number of stem cells found in bone marrow.

Because umbilical cord stem cells are less mature than adult bone marrow stem cells, they are also less likely to be rejected and can be used when there isnt a perfect match.

Between these threeoptions, the easiest collection by far is from umbilical cord and placental tissue after a baby is born and the umbilical cord has been cut, at no risk to mother or child, in a process that typically takes 5 to 10 minutes. The cells are then frozen in liquid nitrogen and can be stored indefinitely in private or public cord blood banks.

To store your babys cord blood for use by your child and your family only, you make arrangements with a private cord blood bank ahead of delivery to collect and store the cells; the cost to you includes a collection fee of $1,500 to $2,000 and an annual storage fee of $100 to $125.

If you cant afford or dont wish to save your babys cord blood stem cells, you can donate them to a public cord blood bank at no cost to you or your family.

Its the equivalent of registering these potentially life-saving cells with the national bone marrow registry; they will be available to the families of other children who need to find a bone marrow match after a devastating diagnosis. Without information and education, however, 95% of all cord blood is discarded as medical waste.

Right now, there is no public cord banking option in Kentucky, although public cord blood banking is highly recommended by both the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Medical Association (AMA). There are fewer than 25 public or hybrid cord blood banks in the U.S., many limited to a specific geographic area. None of them include Kentucky.

The chances of finding a bone marrow match in your family are only about 25%, making the bone marrow and umbilical cord blood registries a lifeline in desperate situations. Odds are worse for African Americans and other ethnic minorities who are underrepresented on the registry and ethnicity matters in a bone marrow transplant.

Donating cord blood cells to a public bank adds to the library of cells that may save someones life and increases the chance of a match for all of us. Who benefits most? Children, patients with rare human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types and ethnic minorities.

We need to do two things: Make public cord blood banking an option in the commonwealth of Kentucky, and then encourage conversations between health care providers and expectant parents about preserving these life-saving cells.

There are 28 states with legislation that ask or mandates physicians to talk to expectant parents about cord blood banking. Kentucky is not one of them, but most of our surrounding states have such legislation in place.

Through a long-standing relationship between the National Stem Cell Foundationand world-renowned cord blood expert Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg, we have a path forward for training hospitals and collecting cells for storage at the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank (CCBB), one of the largest public cord blood banks in the world. Dr. Kurtzberg directs both the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant (PBMT) program at Duke University and the CCBB.

She performed the worlds first unrelated cord blood transplant in 1993, paving the way for this now routine source of donor cells for children who need a bone marrow transplant and dont have a matched donor. She established the CCBB in 1998.

Paula Grisanti is CEO of the National Stem Cell Foundation.(Photo: provided)

While weve initiated discussions between Louisville hospital systems and the CCBB, we need to begin the process of education for parents, nursing and medical school students, residents, midwives, practicing OB-GYNs and the general public.

What a waste to discard these life-saving cells the future of current and developing therapies for disabling and life-threatening diseases depends on our ability to make sure that doesnt happen.

Dr. Paula Grisanti is CEO and a founding member of the National Stem Cell Foundation, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. She holds a D.M.D. and MBA from the University of Louisville and has been actively involved in new venture start-ups for most of her career.

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It's time for Kentucky to talk to expectant parents about benefits of cord blood banking - Courier Journal