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Mothers At JMH Can Now Donate Lifesaving Cord Blood

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MARATHON (CBSMiami/AP) – Jackson Memorial Hospital is now offering the mother of newborns the opportunity to donate lifesaving umbilical cord blood.

The donations go directly to LifeCord, an FDA licensed cord blood bank of LifeSouth Community Blood Centers, headquartered in Gainesville.

Donating cord blood is painless for mother and baby, and there is no charge for the lifesaving service.

CLICK HERE To Watch Cynthia Demos' Report 

To kick off the partnership between JMH and LifeCord, an event was held Wednesday that brought together donors and recipients to talk about their experiences.

"We were encouraged to partner with Jackson by Archie McNealy, a young man who grew up in Miami and died of cancer on December 10th, 2013, without receiving the matching cord donation that could have saved his life," said LifeCord Director Yesi Sevilla. "Matches are most likely to be found when a patient and donor have the same racial or ethnic background, and the babies born at Jackson have the greatest ethnic diversity of any hospital in the Southeast."

Cord blood is rich with blood-forming stem cells that can help patients who are in need of a bone marrow transplant. Cord blood transplants have successfully treated cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases. After a patient's diseased marrow is destroyed, the transplanted cord blood stem cells act like seeds to re-grow healthy, functioning marrow.

Umbilical cord blood offers some practical advantages over traditional adult marrow or stem cell donations. While the tissue from an adult donor must be matched with near pinpoint accuracy to a recipient, cord blood from a newborn can succeed with less perfect matching. It's also tested, frozen and ready for transplant, saving time for patients in need.

Devon Vickers had leukemia. She's now a second year law student at University of Florida. She had a second chance at life thanks to an anonymous cord blood donor.

"There aren't any words to express how grateful I am for her," said Vickers.

Josh Ibarrientos was diagnosed with Leukemia but after six years of chemo Josh got a match.

"I feel great, like this is a new beginning for the future," said  Ibarrientos .

Because matches are based on tissue types, patients who need a transplant are more likely to match a donor of the same race or ethnicity. Cord blood collected from racially diverse communities is desirable and will help treat patients in Miami-Dade County and around the globe.

"Jackson and LifeCord are leading the way,  giving parents the opportunity to make an incredibly generous gift that could one day save the life of a child or an adult," said Carlos A. Migoya, president and chief executive officer of Jackson Health System. "Cord blood collection is safe, simple, and its impact can be priceless - we are thrilled that Jackson is part of this noble effort."

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