Amnion | A Powerful Gift

BTI | The First Gift

BTI is on a mission to increase awareness and donation rates so we can continue to develop medical innovations using amnion, amniotic fluid and cord blood.

At BTI, we are committed to spread the word about donation and how one donor has the potential to provide a life-saving resource to a patient in need.

Donating Your Amnion

Right now, you’re growing a miracle. And right now, your miracle is surrounded by a powerful and protective barrier called amnion, an amazing and natural resource that can save lives, help heal severe wounds, treat burn victims and improve the quality of life for so many.

After your baby is born, he no longer needs it, and sadly, this powerful resource is simply discarded as waste.

By donating your birth tissue, commonly called afterbirth, you can make a difference. Ask your doctor how you can help share your miracle, and in turn, share a powerful gift that will make lives, better.

If your doctor is not a current member of BTi and you would like to donate your birth tissue, or have questions, please contact us, today.

Why Your Donation Matters

Amnion and birth tissue has been used in surgeries and wound care since the early 20th century. Your amniotic tissue donation helps patients heal faster and live better lives. Below are a few areas in medicine where amnion and birth tissue are used.

EYES

Amnion is used in eye surgeries and helps heal damaged ocular tissue. Physicians also use amniotic tissue to help heal corneal ulcerations and chemical burns.

DENTAL

Amniotic tissue is used by dentists to treat gum disease. It can help grow new cells and tissue, creating healthier gums for the patient. It also eliminates the need for having to harvest tissue from the patient’s own mouth, which can be a painful process.

CHRONIC WOUNDS

Diabetic wounds, pressure wounds and severe burns that won’t heal can be treated with amnion and amniotic tissue. It can reduce inflammation and helps the wound site close more rapidly. Why? Because amnion contains growth factors and proteins that can help the patient heal and regenerate damaged tissue.

Cord Blood and Cancer Treatment | Potentially Life-saving Benefits

Umbilical cord blood contains potentially life-saving properties – hematopoietic stem cells. These stem cells are precious and can help treat people with certain life-threatening diseases, including cancer.

Hematopoietic stem cells change into red or white blood cells and platelets the body needs to stay healthy. For patients battling leukemia or other hematopoietic cancers, these stem cells can provide life-saving treatment.

Why? When patients receive chemotherapy treatment, both cancer cells and healthy blood-forming stem cells are killed. Transplanted cord blood stem cells can help regrow healthy blood cells after chemotherapy.

According to Keith Wonnacott, Ph.D., Chief of the Cellular Therapies Branch in FDA’s Office of Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies, “Cord blood is useful because it is a source of stem cells that form into blood cells. Cord blood can be used for transplantation in people who need regeneration, that is, ‘regrowth,’ of these blood-forming cells.”

QUICK FACTS

  • The first successful cord blood stem cell implant was performed in 1988 in Paris, France. The patient was a boy with Fanconi anemia, a genetic and potentially life-threatening type of anemia.
  • More than 25,000 transplants using umbilical cord blood have taken place worldwide.
  • Stem cells from cord blood can be given to more people than those from bone marrow. The stems cells in cord blood are less likely to be rejected than those in bone marrow.
  • It is easier to collect cord blood than bone marrow, as bone marrow collection poses risks and can be painful for the donor.
  • Unlike bone marrow stem cells, cord blood can be used to strengthen immune systems during cancer treatments.
  • Cord blood stem cell transplants are now successfully treating patients (mostly children) with over 70 diseases, including:
    • acute lymphocytic leukemia
    • acute myelogenous leukemia
    • myelodysplastic syndromes
    • chronic myelogenous leukemia
    • juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia
    • chronic lymphocytic cancer
    • Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
    • Neuroblastoma
    • Wiskott Aldrich syndrome
    • Thalassemia
    • Severed combined immune deficiency

RESOURCES: Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplants | The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, August 2007; Cord Blood: What You Need to Know | U.S. Food & Drug Administration, July 2014; Cord Blood Awareness: Quick Facts, Contemporary OB/GYN, July 2020

More and More People are Choosing to Donate

According to the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), the total number of living tissue donors increased from fewer than 600 in 2007, to more than 19,000 in 2015.

From 2012 to 2015, the number of living tissue donors increased by 122% and now make up more than 13% of total tissue donors.

430,662 birth tissue grafts were distributed from AATB accredited institutions in 2015.

Become a part of the growing number of mothers choosing to donate their afterbirth and help people live healthier, happier lives.