Donation Process.

We encourage you to consider donating your cord blood for valuable life-saving transplants and research.

Donating your cord blood is free, painless, and it won’t disrupt your birth plan!

Participating provider offices will include information about the Upstate Cord Blood Bank program in your prenatal packet.  You will need to complete and mail the donation forms before you deliver.


  • Before your baby is born, we also recommend that you inform your provider of your decision to donate with us.

Donation Process

Other Recommendations

The health of you and your baby is important to us. We do not recommend donating under the following conditions:


  • You are less than 36 weeks pregnant at the time of delivery.
  • You have received no prenatal care prior to delivery.
  • You are having multiple babies (ex. twins, triplets).
  • You are less than 18 years old at the time of delivery.

  • At the Time of Donation

    Delaying cord clamping does not exclude you from being able to donate.  If you wish to do both, please contact our office or your provider to discuss the best course of action.


    Donating your placenta does not exclude you from also donating your cord blood. You can do both!


    Cord blood banked for public use is collected directly after the baby's delivery.  The umbilical cord is clamped and cut, and your provider extracts the blood from the umbilical vein into a sterile collection bag.  There is no pain to you or your baby and the entire donation will be collected in 5-7 minutes.


    The nursing staff and our couriers will ensure that the cord blood unit is sent directly to our facility where it is processed, tested, and stored for future use.
Share by: