Public cord blood banks store cord blood for the benefit of the general public and are strongly supported by the medical community. Public cord banks often seek to match up cord blood to patients in the National Marrow Donor Program, for example. The oldest and largest is the New York Blood Center.
Many different public cord banks accept donations, but most would ideally like to begin working with expectant mothers before 34 weeks of pregnancy so as to allow time for paperwork processing. Public cord banks will cover the cost of cord blood collection, testing, and storage. A list of participating hospitals can be found on the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) website. Even if your hospital does not participate it might still be possible to donate your cord blood by contacting [www.cryo-intl.com/enroll_donate.html|Cryobanks International]. Cryobanks accepts donations from anywhere in the Continental US, and some banks outside of the NMDP network might also accept donations.
Babycenter.com hosts more information on donating cord blood as does the Cord Blood Donor Foundation.
