Delayed cord clamping has become a hot topic in recent years and a source of debate for many. The term refers to the practice of letting your newborn’s umbilical cord pulse by postponing cutting the cord instead of immediately cutting it after birth. The debate centers around the optimum time for clamping. . . 10-20 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 3 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.  Unfortunately, there have only been very limited studies on the subject. Practices and recommendations vary wildly from one country or region to another. Social media has also unfortunately fed a lot of misinformation to new parents and healthcare professionals leading to great confusion on the topic.

In 2017, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a position statement on delayed cord blood clamping recommending an interval of 30-60 seconds after delivery of healthy term babies. 
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Read the full ACOG statement on delayed cord clamping here.

Following this recommendation from ACOG, a 30-60 second delay has become standard practice for many birthing hospitals. However, some parents worry that this timing could mean that they could no longer save their baby's cord blood either for donation or private use. Some feel it should be an even longer delay before clamping the umbilical cord. The private cord blood community and the network of public cord banks (who help provide stem cell matches to patients in need everyday via programs like BeTheMatch) have also become concerned the possible impacts to cord blood collection.

We invite you to join us for a special session of Share the Science dedicated to delayed cord clamping and the impacts on cord blood collections. Kate Girard. RN, MSN will provide an overview on the timing of cord clamping and review the data driving the increase in delayed cord clamping.  She will also look at how this practice affects collection volumes and provide accessible information for parents and professionals on policies, procedures and education regarding delayed clamping. 

Attendees will learn about:

• Historical and current cord clamping practices and associated professional association recommendations
• Objective data on the impact of delayed clamping on the volume and cell count of umbilical cord blood collections
• Strategies for facilitating evidence-based conversations and education with both the expectant parent and OB audiences

What would you do?

You are a doctor. A cancer patient comes to you and you advise a stem cell transplant. This news brings hope and nervousness to you both. Both of you know that it can be impossible sometimes to find a bone marrow stem cell donor who meets all of the matching criteria and is available/willing to help. But, wait. . . why limit yourself to using bone marrow stem cells? Public stem cell registries around the world can also provide access to cord blood stem cells. They are easier to match and readily available. A cord blood transplant could be a wonderful solution for your patient. But, don't take our word for it. Let the science guide you. Dr. Milano will give you the facts you need.

Does cord blood have advantages?

It has been decades since the first cord blood transplant. Since that milestone moment in 1988, the medical establishment has come to recognize cord blood as a viable source of stem cells. Currently, there are over 80 different life-threatening diseases for which cord blood is used as treatment. Included on this list of diseases are many blood cancers, leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia. Yet, for many doctors and transplant centers, the use of cord blood as a source of stem cells is often seen as a last resort. Should it be? Is it really a last resort or is it a better choice? The answer undoubtedly depends on many factors.

Dr. Filippo Milano is a world-renowned stem cell transplant expert specializing in cord blood transplants. For years, he has helped cancer patients via his role at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center or "The Hutch," as it is often called.  As the Associate Director of the Cord Blood Transplantation program at "The Hutch," Dr. Milano has been particularly focused on ways to increase the number of patients eligible for a cord blood transplant via improved clinical practices. His work has been focused on making improvements that would ultimately lead to better clinical outcomes for cord blood recipients and translate to a better quality of life post-transplant.

SHARE THE SCIENCE

with

Dr. Filippo Milano

from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

"Clinical Outcomes for Cord Blood Transplants"

Free webinar. Open to the public. 
​
Thursday, March 28th, 2019  - 11am Central Time

About the Speaker

In 2016, Dr. Milano and his colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) published the results of their ground-breaking study, "Cord-Blood Transplantation in Patients with Minimal Residual Disease" in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The study concluded ". . . the probability of overall survival after receipt of a transplant from a cord-blood donor was at least as favorable as that after receipt of a transplant from an HLA-matched unrelated donor and was significantly higher than the probability after receipt of a transplant from an HLA-mismatched unrelated donor. Furthermore, the probability of relapse was lower in the cord-blood group than in either of the other groups." These results brought hope to many.

At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Dr. Milano is an Assistant Member of the Clinical Research Division, and Associate Director Cord Blood Transplantation Cord Blood Program. He is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.

Dr. Milano received his MD (2001) and his PhD in Medicine (2010) from the University “La Sapienza” Rome.

In 2005, the US government recognized the need for a federal cord blood donation program. This moment marked a major advancement in stem cell therapies as the government sought to fulfill a need and better standardize the cord blood banking requirements. At the time, the government recognized a need for a centralized public stem cell registry which could provide an ethnically diverse and high-quality source of stem cells easily accessible for patients in need. This was the beginning of the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI), operated by the National Marrow Donor Program / Be The Match.

​As we know, cord blood has been used for many years to treat patients suffering from life-threatening diseases including leukemia, lymphoma and sickle cell anemia. In fact, donated cord blood is recognized as a possible treatment for over 80 different diseases. ​Cord blood also holds great promise in the field of regenerative medicine for autism, spinal cord injury, hearing loss and more.

About the Speaker

Kandice Kapinos is a health and labor economist at the RAND Corporation. Her research broadly focuses on health economics, health services research and the economics of prevention, particularly for vulnerable populations. She is currently leading a study on access to care in California Workers’ Compensation system and contributing to two studies on telehealth and one on disability among the self-employed. Recently she has completed several child and maternal health studies, including studies of peer and environmental effects in adolescent obesity and pregnancy; effects of perinatal maternal weight trajectories on maternal and child health outcomes, the effects of Cesarean deliveries on maternal health, and the cord blood industry. She also has extensive experience with health care reform and health policy evaluation studies across a wide range of health topics. Much of this work has been focused in the area of policies aimed at improving preventive health utilization She has advanced applied econometric and survey methodological skills.

She previously worked at the University of Michigan, the US Census Bureau and Abt Associates. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, a VA Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Center of Excellence. Kapinos received her Ph.D. in labor economics/human resources from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.