Born A Hero

Meet Nate. Nate was born a hero when he donated his umbilical cord blood!

His mother, Jessica wanted to share their story.

“When I found out I was pregnant I was instantly bombarded with literature regarding private cord banking. I didn’t really feel that was a good option for our family since it was really expensive and I wasn’t sure if we’d ever need to use the cord blood.

During a child-birth preparation class, I found information about Rhode Island Blood Center’s Cord Blood Donation Program.  Not only was it free, but I knew if we couldn’t use out baby’s cord blood another family could benefit from it. I was sent an information packet to fill out and I scheduled an appointment to meet with someone at the center.

After it was determined I would be a good candidate for donation, I was given a box to bring with me to the hospital when I went into labor. The box contained everything the center needed to donate our baby’s cord blood.

In January, I went into labor and made sure to grab the special box along with my hospital bag. All that was needed was a simple painless blood test at the hospital to make sure everything was normal for the cord blood donation.

Also a really nice representative from the center came during my delivery to assist with the donation during the birth of my son. She was completely non-intrusive and she was only there for a short while to collect the cord blood.

Before she left she gave me an adorable shirt for my son that read ‘Born a Hero’. It made me tear up to think my beautiful newborn son was already a hero and I felt so good inside knowing that something that is normally discarded can be preserved and used to save a life.

I highly recommend donating your baby’s cord blood. It’s free and incredibly easy to do. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Jessica Beatty

If you are interested in donating your baby’s umbilical cord blood, or for more information on the Umbilical Cord Blood Program, you can visit the Rhode Island Blood Center’s web site at  http://www.ribc.org/full/inner/cordblood.shtml or call us at (401)248-5768.  

Cord blood will be collected by the Rhode Island Blood Center staff who will be at Women & Infants Hospital during the day, Monday through Friday. Some obstetricians may also participate in the collection program.