S.F. hospital joins umbilical cord blood donation effort

New parents in San Francisco can now donate their infant’s umbilical cord blood for use in transplants or medical research.

The program started at Kaiser Permanente’s medical center on Geary Boulevard is part of a national effort. Usable blood is sent to the Cleveland Cord Blood Center in Ohio, where it is stored and placed in a registry that is available free for public use and can be drawn on by doctors in the United States and 17 other countries.

The mineral-rich cord blood is what remains in the umbilical cord and placenta after childbirth. Doctors use it as an alternative to bone marrow transplants in treating cancer patients because cord blood is rich in stem cells and can replenish marrow without surgery.

Also, it can be frozen and stored for years before use.

“Bone marrow often is in very short supply,” especially for nonwhite patients, said Dr. Sarah Mandel, chief of obstetrics at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco. “Once we collect cord blood, it can be used to save lives.”

Kaiser Permanente San Francisco is the only hospital in the Bay Area to collect cord blood, which also is used for treating diseases such as lymphoma and leukemia. Nine other hospitals in California already are accepting and processing such donations.

Although still at an early stage, the collection effort should continue to grow. The state Legislature voted in 2010 to increase birth certificate fees by $2 as a way to fund a statewide effort, the Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program, which is managed by UC Davis.