Q: You've been a Labor & Delivery nurse for nearly 35 years. When did cord blood first enter your world?
I've always said that birth is my love language. There's nothing that makes me happier in my career than watching a new little life enter the world. About 10 years in -- back in the late '90s -- my mother asked me a question I couldn't shake: 'Why don't hospitals save the cord blood for patients? I've been reading that it can do some good.'
I started investigating. What I found stopped me in my tracks. We were wasting a very valuable byproduct of birth. The cord blood coming from every delivery had the potential to save lives -- and we were throwing it away.
I became something of a cord blood nerd. I studied the science, reached out to leading researchers, and connected with Dr. Hal Brockmeyer, the scientist who discovered that cord blood stem cells function similarly to bone marrow stem cells. That ignited a fire. I went on to manage a public cord blood collection site, joined the advisory board of the Parents Guide to Cord Blood Foundation, and spent the next two and a half decades educating parents, nurses, and physicians all over the world.
Q: What does your work as a global educator look like today?
I talk to everyone -- expectant parents, nurses, OBs, midwives, scientists, researchers. I've shared stages with some of the leading minds in stem cell science. I have trained physicians and fellow nurses on how to collect it, discuss it, and champion it before expectant parents get to the delivery room.
"The worst thing for me is hearing after the baby is born, 'Can you tell me about cord blood?' and having to say it's gone. That conversation needed to happen months earlier."
Q: You often speak about 'faith in the science before the science exists.' What does that mean to you?
We have all watched diseases transform in our lifetimes. HIV used to be a death sentence. Polio ravaged communities. Diseases that once ended lives are now managed or cured because someone, somewhere, kept doing the science. I have faith in the science that doesn't exist yet today -- because I have seen what science can do.
Personally, my family carries the risk of ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. Conversations about these and many other diseases are happening -- and I don't say that from a distance. I share stages with these scientists from all over the world and learn about the work being done in clinical trials.
Whether or not those treatments will arrive in my grandchildren's lifetimes is unknown, but if they do, I feel better knowing we've kept that possibility open.
Q: Fast forward to the moment you found out you were going to be a grandmother. What was that like?
My grandmother name is Mimmie -- it rhymes with Kimmie, and my niece and nephew gave it to me years ago. On my birthday, my daughter handed me a gift. Inside was a tiny onesie. It said Camp Mimmie.
The room was full of family. She was the only one who understood what that onesie meant. My mother, who had started all of this with a question two decades earlier, and I found each other across the room. We were both crying happy tears.
" As soon as I found out she was pregnant, things were racing through my mind -- where she would deliver, how the pregnancy was going, what we were doing with the cord blood."
Q: How did you have the cord blood banking conversation with your daughter and son-in-law?
My daughter grew up hearing me talk about cord blood, so for her it was already a given. My son-in-law was newer to it, so I sat them down and walked through the science and our family history -- including risks for ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's.
I told them it was about giving their child one more option if life ever took an unexpected turn -- something preserved in case it was ever needed. Then I offered to pay for it.
Not as an obligation. As a grandmother.
"To me, it wasn't a purchase. It was a life gift. Something that, long after I'm gone, will still be there for them."
Q: You chose private banking for your grandchildren. Can you explain your thinking?
I am a strong advocate for all cord blood banking -- public and private both serve important purposes. Public banking saves lives for patients who need a match now and don't have one in their family, but many public collection sites have largely closed due to cost, and not every hospital has an active program. Private banking preserves a biological resource for your own family. For my grandchildren, given our family history and everything I know about where regenerative medicine is heading, private banking was the right answer. It was never a question.
"Every child is genetically unique. Finding their match on a registry is like trying to find someone with the exact same personality. You might find someone close -- but close isn't always good enough when it counts."
Q: You banked both cord blood AND cord tissue for all four grandchildren. Why both?
Most people don't realize they are completely different types of stem cells with completely different potential. Cord blood and cord tissue are not the same thing.
Cord blood contains hematopoietic stem cells -- the blood-forming cells currently used to treat some blood diseases, immune disorders, and metabolic conditions. And the research isn't standing still -- clinical trials are continuing to explore their use in neurological conditions like cerebral palsy and hypoxic brain injuries.
Cord tissue contains mesenchymal stem cells -- and this is what I, personally, am most excited about because of the potential being shown in research.
"I think of mesenchymal stem cells like a kindergarten classroom on the first day of school. Every child in that room has potential. You can look around and think -- you might be the scientist, you might be the doctor, you might be the artist. Mesenchymal stem cells are the same way. In early-stage research, they have shown the ability to develop into different types of cells, including bone, liver, and other tissue types. They are pure, unwritten possibility."
Q: You've now banked for all four grandchildren. Why not just one?
Because every child is genetically unique -- right down to their cells. Each person has their own distinct HLA profile, their own biological fingerprint. Finding a suitable donor match can sometimes be challenging depending on the condition and compatibility factors. Siblings have up to a 75% chance (25% chance/full match and about a 50% chance/partial match) of being a match for one another, which may increase options, provide more flexibility, and a potentially stronger safety net with every child. The first cord blood banked in a family is never just for that child.
Even within the same family, siblings are different. One of my granddaughters was born Rh-negative to two O-positive parents. That proved to me right away how genetically unique she is -- distinct from her sisters in ways that would matter deeply in certain medical scenarios.
"By banking for all four, we expand my family's options."
Q: You've paid for cord blood banking for all four grandchildren. Why did you choose to give this as a gift?
Grandparents ask me all the time -- what can I really do that matters? There are so many gifts you can give a grandchild. Clothes. Toys. A savings bond. But this is something entirely different. This is a biological resource that may one day play a role in a difficult moment none of us want to imagine.
I think about what legacy really means. It's not what you leave behind in a will. It's the decisions you made while you were here -- the ones that keep working long after you're gone.
"Banking their cord blood and tissue stem cells is my legacy. And if 50 years from now, when I am long gone, one of them needs it -- it's been preserved as a potential option. 'Mimmie gave us hope.' That is how I want to be remembered."
Q: Knowing what you know, what made you choose Cryo-Cell?
Honestly, I understand the science and I know that every single step matters -- from the alcohol prep expiration dates to the type of collection bag to transport, processing and storage. I knew too much to just pick a name and move on.
The thing I kept coming back to was FACT accreditation -- it means the bank has met the rigorous quality standards for how they collect, ship, process, and store those cells. Not every bank holds it. That told me what I needed to know.
"Those cells belong to my grandchildren. I needed to know they were protected every step of the way."
This Cord Blood Awareness Month, Kim is sharing her story to reach the families who still have time to make this decision -- and the providers who can help them get there.
One conversation before delivery day could be the most important one you have.
Disclaimer: Kim Petrella, MSN, RNC-OB, is a Labor & Delivery nurse with nearly 35 years of experience, global cord blood educator, and advisory board member of the Parents Guide to Cord Blood Foundation. She is Mimmie to four grandchildren -- all of whose cord blood and tissue are stored with Cryo-Cell.
The clinical perspectives shared in this piece reflect the personal and professional experience of Kim Petrella, MSN, RNC-OB, and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of Cryo-Cell International. Cord blood banking is a personal decision. While donor cord blood stem cells are currently approved for use in treating certain blood, immune, and metabolic disorders, there is no guarantee that stored cells will be used or be suitable for treatment. The likelihood of use is relatively low and varies depending on individual circumstances and genetic conditions. Many potential applications, including those involving neurological or regenerative conditions, are currently under investigation and are not approved by the FDA. This content reflects personal experience and is not intended as medical advice.