By Greg Vellner
The Trenton Times
Monday, March 03, 2008

Dr. Margaret Lambert-Woolley has a warning for expectant parents.

"You only have one chance to do this," she says. "There's no second chance."

That single opportunity? Choosing to preserve at birth a baby's umbilical cord blood, a rich source of stem cells that increasingly are being used in medical treatments to enhance and save lives including that of the newborn.

"There are no down sides to this and the benefits can be enormous," says Lambert-Woolley, an OB/GYN at Atlantic Women's Medical Group, Monmouth Medical Center, West Long Branch. "I tell my patients: It's like an insurance policy in that you hope you never need it, but when you need it you need it."

Approximately 115,000 babies are born each year in New Jersey and 95 percent of the time, the cord blood is disposed of as medical waste. Stem cells are being used to treat about 70 chronic or life-threatening diseases such as leukemia, sickle cell anemia and metabolic disorders.

It's been legal to preserve cord blood, but there now is momentum nationwide to inform expectant parents of preservation options.

In early January, the state Legislature passed -- and Gov. Jon Corzine signed -- a law instructing hospitals and medical professionals to advise expectant families about preserving cord blood in a bank or designating it for donation. The legislation also requires the state Department of Health and Senior Services create an educational brochure to be shared with expectant parents prior to labor and delivery, preferably in the first trimester.

"Once I heard they were going to do it, I looked into it," she says. "After I looked into it and saw the benefits, I decided it was something we were interested in doing."

For the couple, cord-blood preservation was akin to an insurance policy.

"Hopefully it never has to be used," says Jane, 39. "But I like it in case we have other children or if, God forbid, something happens to my daughter or even my husband or I."

Her advice to expectant parents?

"Do research because it's important to look at all the options," she says.

According to Jennifer Forst, spokeswoman for the Cord Blood Registry, expectant parents have three options: preserve a child's cord blood in a private (family) blood bank; donate to a public bank; or allow it to be discarded at the hospital at the time of birth.

Family banks there are several in the United States providing the service for an initial fee of about $1,500 and a monthly storage fee of $100, according to Lambert-Woolley -- store the blood for use by the child or a family member. Donation increases the national supply of cord blood available to those who seek a stem-cell match for transplant.

Lambert-Woolley says about 60 to 150 cubic centimeters of blood are drawn by syringe from the umbilical cord following birth.

There are three potential uses of the stem cells acquired from cord blood.

"First and foremost," the doctor says, "if the child would be diagnosed with a disease we can treat with a stem-cell transplant, the chances of remission and cure are greater with their own stem cells. When you transplant from a donor, there is a risk of graft vs. host disease."

Lambert-Woolley has seen a child cured of sickle-cell anemia with his own stem cells.

"That's just mind blowing," she says.

A second benefit is to "first-degree" relatives of a baby's cord-blood stem cells.

"If my patient herself, her husband or their other children need a stem-cell transplant for whatever reason, the chances of finding a match are far better than going into the general population," says Lambert-Woolley. "You improve your odds dramatically because about 75 percent of people who need a stem-cell transplant ordinarily will not find a match."

Another beneficial use of the stem cells is in regenerative medicine.

"It's the most mind-blowing to me," she says. "They're beginning to use stem cells to treat damaged tissue."

Recent stem-cell transplants have taken place in patients with juvenile diabetes.

"It's trying to stimulate the pancreas into growing new insulin-secreting cells," says Lambert-Woolley. "It actually worked for a bit. If we can collect these cells and save them for 20, 30, 40 or 50 years, who knows what we'll be able to treat in the future?"

The first opportunity for expectant parents to preserve their baby's cord blood came about 15 years ago. At that time, Lambert-Woolley says, about 20 percent of her patients elected to do so.

The new state law, she hopes, will increase awareness -- and that number.

"If I was having a baby, I'd want to know about this opportunity," she says. "I've met a lot of people who had children with diseases who didn't have a chance to preserve stem cells that could have helped.

"That's heartbreaking," she says. "Everyone should at least hear they have the option."

For more information, look online (www.cordbloodawareness.org).