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Your Baby Can Save a Life!



At Saint Vincent, your baby can become a part of a life-saving mission on the very day he or she is born. 

That’s because Saint Vincent has joined a growing number of Catholic hospitals across the country to adopt a cord blood donation program. 

Saint Vincent is the first and only hospital in the region to offer this option.


Cord Blood Donation Guidelines:


  • You must be at least 18 years of age.
  • You can NOT donate if you are expecting multiple births (this applies to public donation only.)
  • All other questions or inquiries can be answered by calling Mary Wiegel (ITxM’s Cord Blood Program) at 412-209-7479 or email: mwiegel@itxm.org.

Public Banking Basic Information:

  • You will receive your Cord Blood kit in the mail after contacting ITxM for information.
  • Please fill out all the information forms.  This is very important for the processing of your baby’s cord blood.  If you have any questions regarding the kit, the forms or anything, please contact Mary Wiegel at 412-209-7479 or email: mwiegel@itxm.org.
  • Please bring the kit and all the completed forms with you to the hospital.  It is very important that you let your nurse knows that you are donating your baby’s cord blood and that you have your kit.

The Facts about Cord Blood Donation

Cord blood donation takes stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborns for storage in public cell banks. The cells are later used to help patients with illnesses in which bone marrow therapy was traditionally used, such as cancer and leukemia.  

Prior to this agreement, the only options for local parents was to either have cord blood discarded as medical waste or make paid arrangements with a private organization to have the cord blood stored for the family’s personal use if needed in the future. Both of these options are still available to parents at Saint Vincent. 

The new agreement means parents now also have the option for public donation of their baby’s cord blood to help others in need.  

Bishop Donald W. Trautman of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie stated that cord blood donation is a morally accepted procedure because it does not involve the use of embryonic stem cells, but rather blood taken after the birth of a healthy baby.

Expectant parents who deliver at Saint Vincent will be provided with the information they need so they may make a decision on the umbilical cord donor choice that is right for them.  The information will be provided in the physician’s office as well as during childbirth education classes and while in the hospital.  The decision on what to do with the umbilical cord blood will be at the sole discretion of the parents.

Cord blood donations go to The Institute for Transfusion Medicine (ITxM) in Pittsburgh, a not-for-profit public cord blood bank, which accepts altruistic donations of cord blood after the birth of healthy babies. 

Questions?Ask your doctor or contact Mary C. Wiegel for ITxM by calling 412-209-7479 or clicking here.