Most people would agree that when faced with an important healthcare choice, patients should receive accurate and up-to-date information in order to make an informed decision.  Yet given the rapidly evolving field of medicine in a fast-paced, demanding environment, obstetricians and their staff face the challenge of educating expectant parents about a variety of topics, one of which involves the medical use of a newborn’s stem cells from umbilical cord blood and tissue and the banking options available to expectant parents.

Data presented today at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Annual Clinical Meeting demonstrate that 98 percent of obstetric providers and staff who reviewed a unique online education program, would advise their patients to complete the program to become better informed about cord blood stem cells.  In addition, more than 90 percent of healthcare providers surveyed reported being satisfied with the program’s ability to provide patients with sufficient information to make an informed decision about cord blood preservation options. 

To date, nearly 9,000 healthcare providers and more than 40,000 obstetric patients have completed the program. More than 95 percent of patients surveyed were satisfied, reporting an increased knowledge about cord blood banking after completing the program.   

The online education program, developed by Cord Blood Registry with input from public banking experts and stem cell researchers, follows the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines recommending that expectant parents receive balanced information early enough in pregnancy to make an informed choice about the storage or disposal of their newborn’s cord blood stem cells.   Today 20 states representing 68 percent of U.S. births have passed cord blood education legislation in support of the IOM recommendations.

Dr. Thomas S. Purdon, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Arizona and a past president of ACOG, sums up the importance of cord blood education:

“Educating expectant parents about cord blood banking is not just good health policy,” says Purdon. “It’s good medical practice.”

Click here to view the press release about the study

Click here to view the data presented at ACOG