Outcomes of a program to evaluate mother and baby 6 months after umbilicalcord blood donation

BACKGROUND: A routine program of evaluating mothers and infants 6 months af ter umbilical cord blood donation was started at the Milano Cord Blood Bank (MCBB) in 1996. This study evaluated the main outcomes of this program. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: All mothers donating cord blood at this bank from February 1996 through May 1999 were invited to Visit the bank or the colle ction suite 6 months after delivery to report on the health condition of th eir babies and to provide a fresh blood sample for repeat basal serologic t ests (HBsAg, anti-HCV, anti-HIV1/2, and syphilis). A bank volunteer contact ed the mothers by telephone to schedule their visits just before the expira tion of the 6-month period. Before collection of the new sample, a trained operator interviewed the mothers to review the mother's medical history inf ormation collected at donation and to obtain the baby's postnatal medical h istory. RESULTS: Of the 2450 mothers enrolled in the study, 2315 (94.5%) attended t he bank in agreement with the program, 4 promised to attend, 95 could not b e traced, 26 declined the invitation, and 10 were unable to attend. Of the 135 mothers who could not be traced, 29 (21.4%) belonged to non-European et hnic groups. The average time spent with each mother was approximately 20 m inutes. in serologic testing, one indeterminate anti-HCV seroconversion (c2 2) was detected. Collection of the baby's postnatal history reported one ca se of congenital urinary malformation not known at delivery, one of protein C deficiency, one of phenylketonuria, one of mucoviscidosis, and one of 10 q- chromosomal abnormality. The cord blood components from all these births were discarded. CONCLUSION: These data support the feasibility of a routine g-month program of evaluating mothers and babies giving cord blood at a cord blood bank. S uch programs may increase the quality of components stored for transplantat ion.