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Cancer Screenings
Help Save Lives

Cord Blood Banking
Helps Save Lives

Stay Vigilant Against Cervical Cancer

Help Protect Your Joints
with an Early Diagnosis

When Shoulder Instability
Is Holding You Back

Sudden Cardiac Arrest: Prepare for the Unexpected

Cord Blood Banking Helps Save Lives

Dr. Allison Hunt
OB/GYN
The Methodist Hospital

Every day thousands of adults and children with life-threatening blood diseases wait patiently for a bone marrow donor. Unfortunately, many never get the life-saving transplant they need.

The birth of a child is a one-time opportunity to help patients in need of a transplant.

Like bone marrow, umbilical cord blood is a source of blood-forming cells for transplant patients. When transplanted, the healthy cells replace the damaged cells of a patient's bone marrow and immune system.

The cord blood that would normally be thrown away after birth can be used to treat patients with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.

"Donating your baby's cord blood is a selfless act for the greater good of others."

"Donating your baby's cord blood is a selfless act for the greater good of others," says Allison Hunt, M.D., OB/GYN at The Methodist Hospital and Methodist's obstetrical liaison for the cord blood bank. "Cord blood is easy to collect and harmless to both mother and baby."

The program entails donating your newborn's umbilical cord blood at the time of delivery. You will be asked to sign a consent form granting us permission to collect your cord blood. The cord blood is then tested, frozen and stored at M.D. Anderson's Cord Blood Bank until it is needed. All services are provided at no cost to you. The Methodist Hospital is one of four area hospitals that collect cord blood
at birth.

If for any reason your cord blood cannot be used for transplant, it will be used in research studies that will help improve transplant outcomes. No matter how your cord blood is used, the identity of both mother and child is kept confidential.

To learn more about cord blood banking, speak with your OB/GYN or call 866-618-3351.

Whooping Cough Vaccine Recommended
for New Mothers

Also known as pertussis, whooping cough is a respiratory tract infection that resembles the common cold but can turn into a serious illness. Although infants and young children are at highest risk for catching the cough and are more apt to develop serious complications, adults are not immune. Common symptoms of whooping cough include fits of coughing with the signature "whoop" sound after each cough, runny nose, hoarseness, congestion and fever.

The DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine is recommended for children to help protect against these illnesses. Adults are also encouraged to receive the vaccine (referred to as Tdap) every 10 years. This is especially important for new mothers, who if unprotected, could pass the whooping cough on to their newborn.

To learn more about preventing whooping cough, call 866-618-3350.

< Fall 2008